@@azfarabdullah9638 Honestly despite the rulings season 1 is iconic still my favorite to this day. Nothing beats it. My only problem with season 2 is how badly mai was treated she won one duel against a guy we never saw again. And it completely broke my heart how they made her look as if she wasn't part of the group and doubting herself if they even liked her. The noah arc... this was wierd they should have not splashed it during the tournament. Mb i would've liked it then. The only thing i liked is that it showed the rest of the group dueling even Serenity. Everything after gx i dont hate but it's just not the same for me. I'll admit i have my favorite moments from 5ds and zexal too. Everything after that i haven't watched.
@@Thepokedek battle city is the only part of DM I can go back and watch. I only like about 6 episodes of GX, I can still watch most of 5ds and zexal. ARCV is unabashed trash and Vrains was just boring.
Maybe I'm not up-to-speed on internet slang, but is it really considered shipping if the source material itself shows how 2 characters love each other?
In season 1, after Shou starts calling Judai "aniki", Judai tells him to stop, insisting they're equals. Shou doesn't. When Kenzan appears later and also calls him "aniki" Judai appears to be resigned. He ignores their weird infighting over his attention, and he always seemed kind of awkward to me about the whole thing. Then there's Kaiser, Manjoume and Edo who, while they are his friends, also have a rivalry with him. They act like they're better than Judai. And then Johan comes and after their duel, they go up on the roof and talk about their mistakes and how they both could've done better, and there's no inferiority or superiority. Johan being Judai's true and honest equal is such a breath of fresh air that it's kind of no wonder they became so close so quickly.
That detail just breaks your heart because Jaden truly didn't have friends in GX. He either had people who constantly looked up to him or looked down at him and when he needed people to just be his friends their answers were heart breaking.
@@1dbad Amon/Adrian: "Before you Chazz me, I'm gonna have to activate my face down card," THE Chazz: "But HOW!?" Amon/Adrian: "Simple, I just dramatically yell out the name of the card and it appears. Have you played this game before? It's a really common ocurrence..." What ever do you mean lol.
@ULGROTHA It still gets me to this day that certain individuals think that Arcv is gx done right when it is kinda the opposite of arcv getting worse over time and gx getting better.
I'm honestly shocked you didn't talk about Season 4. 1) Judai was cursed to see everyone as an enemy, including Johan. Even us as viewers were shown a generic enemy instead of Johan. Then Johan dueled Judai, realized exactly what was happening, and snapped Judai out of it. All this without losing doubt - Johan was in full control of that entire situation. He knew Jaden that well. 2) Then they tag dueled against an evil character who looked into their souls and saw their bond. It described Judai as "Johan's light", so the evil one decided to break that bond. It looked successful when Judai and Johan started attacking each other in the Duel - only for them to start laughing. It was all a ruse to get a combo going. Those two were able to hit each other while darkness incarnate was trying to turn them against one another, and still be allies, without even discussing the plan beforehand. 3) IIRC Johan is the last human to survive the incoming darkness, except Judai himself. None of Judai's friends got this kind of treatment. 4) All the S3 characters were handled so well, it's what the series needed from the start. My only complaint is Judai's original friends got the shaft in S3 - extremely overshadowed by the newcomers, to say nothing of becoming soul fuel to create a meta card. (side note: friends sacrificed for power? Anyone else getting Berserk vibes from that scene?) For what it's worth, S4 fixed the writing for Judai's original friends, who got some depressingly realistic character development arcs. 5) As a last point, S3 GX deconstructed the entire idea of being the invincible hero of the story. You mentioned how Judai fixed every crisis so far, so now he feels only he can fix the new one. I'll add that Judai *did* fix everything right before the Dark World arc, except Johan was missing. Obviously Judai rejected this outcome, and IIRC he did this out of pure care for Johan - he didn't get lured by Viper, Yubel, Darkness, or candy, he went willingly. Suddenly, losing a Duel means literal death, *and* it means Johan dies since no one can save him. Suddenly, being the invincible hero of your show is a liability; you're no longer a nobody that saves the day. Instead, you have monsters acknowledge you as a threat. They target you (and your friends) to prevent you from saving the world. Judai was stressed the fuck out, and this is all a consequence of his bond with Johan. And when Judai did snap, he became the Supreme King and used his apparent invincibility to *conquer the world in a few days*. It took the end of S4 for GX to acknowledge how much Judai changed, for better and worse, and the entire point of the epilogue duel was to give Judai back the ability to have fun Dueling, without any world-ending shebangs. TLDR: while Yubel was the destination, Johan was the guide on the road, and S4 fittingly concluded all that was gained and lost on that road.
The season 3 characters weren’t done well Gecko was forgotten Jim too but at least he didn’t have a forgotten arc Axel was great I kinda wish he beat Trueman but since seemingly the only people were Kaiba, Jaden and Johan he didn’t do too bad though damn Nightshroud can manipulate memories
@@Deathmare235 Even tho Adrian was a mess himself, the season would be worse without him. The bigger issue is that people were confirmed not dead at the end of Season3, which means he just ducked off or sth, idk. Ironically, it is the dub that fixes this(I say that a lot recently, funny thing) by not only saying everyone can infact return specifically after beating yubel(Meaning everyone who doesn't confirmed return just died in the process, which are not enough chars, but Adrien is one of the two it applies to) and Season 3 is the end, so it is less instantly obvious that his characterarc was forgotten.
S4 didn’t fix his friends it gave them great arcs but just the arcs and not the rest of the story except for maybe Alexis but that’s cause of her brother
@@lpfan4491 Adrian is a great character and it’s not just him but also the lost dorm students the only one who could’ve had a fitting end is Zane since he could’ve counted as dead instead of missing
Can't wait for the vid about Chumley. Also, I like how your map of Europe has Kingdom of Yugoslavia on it. You may not like it but that is what peak Balkan Performace looks like.
Hey, great video. I always associate GX with bittersweet feelings because the subversion, plot and Judai's transformation are phenomenal. I have issues with GX but it's one of my favourites. YGO in general, especially in japanese original version, has a very dark tone. The first YGO universe, starting from season 0, has a very different tone from the dub. I would love to see your video on Shou...or maybe a video on Yugi and other Yugi/Yami/Atemu. For some reason a lot of people compare Shou and Yugi but I think it's an unfair comparison. Yugi had a big role, he wasn't just there. I think people forget Yami started as a really dark character with no moral compass. He did help Yugi but enjoyed mentally crushing Yugi's bullies. Yugi thaught Yami to become better, more human. Personally, I think it was Yugi (... and Bakura) that pushed Yami's character development throughout the seasons, not Kaiba. This is not to say Shou is completely useless, just that comparison between him and Yugi is unfair, in my opinion. Yugi even at his worst in season 0 did things out of some misplaced sense of obligation or loyalty - but he did them himself. Hope you do more YGO vids! Whichever season or universe, who cares it's YGO :-)
As someone who lives in Texas I have got to say Jesse's accent is so cringy and also even for someone who hasn't seen GX yet (I'm still on season 4 of duel monsters) you tell the story's of the show incredibly well and just make me want to watch it even more, please keep making amazing videos(and maybe some on duel monsters as well😁)
@@richardo490 yeah they can be besties and lovers at the same time. And like I said earlier I think the best word to describe them is soulmates cus of how much Judai goes thru for Johan and how much they mean to each other. Just let us have ONE non straight relationship yugioh I beg you.
Normally with a lot of shipping stuff I think it’s reaching but this is entirely different Yu-gi-oh had a pan sexual protagonist who was in a love triangle with a non-binary demon and European who understood him on a deeper level and it’s kinda amazing.
It really is! It makes me sad GX doesn't come up more in LGBT Anime Characters discussions and videos. Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal also had a canonically bisexual character with Alito.
@ULGROTHA Minor spoilers: Alito crushes on a girl that episode, and his crush sequence is later repeated but with a male character instead. (dub only removed the male crush sequence) The World Championship 3DS game further confirms it, with the end of his storyline having him ask a male character out. (interestingly the game localization did NOT censor this out like 4Kids did)
Just to mention, the fully realised version of Judai’s character is shown in the Bonds Beyond Time movie- this is the form of Judai that lies at the end of all his character development. Notice that this version of Judai isn’t a natural leader, he’s just a guy who travels the world (and hangs out in Venice? For... some reason?) for fun, having adventures.
Maybe Judai is searching for his boyfriend in Venice? Johan is European, after all. Judai could be just extremely confused about where in Europe Johan is, being Japanese and Judai...
@@yukikariuwu5773 Sorry, but you activated my script card! Here's the fanfic script for the GX movie that will (probably) never happen: It's been 5 years after graduation. Judai is still searching his boyfriend in Europe, he finds Johan's family and they said he's in a pro contract with a guy that believes in duel spirits. Johan thinks this guy will help him with his mission, but that agent just wants to use them (a-le Kagemaru). Now what the film is, besides Judai reuniting with his lover, is an actual chance Judai's friends to help him back. He really helped them for three years, asking nothing in return. Now they help him without being asked. It's also just a victory lap for all our favorite characters. Sho mastering the roid, cyber and dark cyber decks and standing up on his own, Manjome balancing his personality with the chillness that season 1 Judai instilled in him (maybe he actually uses the Light and Darkness Dragon), Asuka finding a new way of teaching (like, maybe instead of forcing her style of dueling she realizes that every duelist has their own style, so she helps them nurture and realize it. Said realization comes from seeing Judai duels for three years). Just seeing how our beloved characters progressed in life... So Judai, besides that searching for Yohan plot, actually ponders if he should do that. After all, this is Johan's choice. He doesn't have to butt in his life. Maybe Johan's got his own plans. And for once the world is not at stake here. The world doesn't need a hero. No one needs saving. But it doesn't mean Judai doesn't have the right to butt in. Judai should try and persue his wishes and desires. He doesn't have to cancel himself for the sake of others. That's the emotional journey Judai goes through the story. That's what his friends help him realize. That's where Judai gets his strength from in the last act of this theoretical film. Now I know I've transformed the script from Yaoi bait to an actual conclusion to the story, but I want the movie to end with Judai jumping at Johan, yelling "I love you". I know that this is just Card capturer Sakura's movie's (or was it an OVA?) ending, bit it's still a must!
GX as an generation, not my favorite for many reasons I will disclose soon. Though there are things I like: Manga, Contact Fusion, Structure Decks, Secret Rares.
Find a man who will disregard all his friends who he has spent the last 2 years with bonding and going on crazy journeys just to go and risk himself and his friends to save you.
to be fair jaden did try to go alone and they chose to follow him in.....and i was jaden's crazy yandere card ex that took over jesse in the first place.
@@clarisacalderon9555 Breaking down GX to absurdity is one on my and my friends' favorite joke threads. "Remember when the androgynous trading card spirit was so overprotective of Protagonist-kun that they sent people to the hospital and then got jealous over Protagonist-kun's new boyfriend? Or when Protagonist-kun chased his new boyfriend to literally hell and then unleashed a tyrant that was his past life?
@@clarisacalderon9555 Or my personal favorite: remember when Jaden got a deck upgrade because he was so distraught in losing a card game that he traveled to a distant planet in his dreams, met an anthropomorphic dolphin and looted a crashed satellite for a deck of cards that he made up when he was a child because Seto Fucking Kaiba wanted to challenge heretofore unknown aliens to card games?
Man, that Judai and Johan, such good friends, eh? Doing things for each other that only friends do! 'You are literally the only thing that makes me feel happy Johan, you're my rock. For you, I literally went crazy just to be with you again and the thought of you being alive was the only thing that kept me from dying.' BEST FRIENDS
@@PedroHenrique-uq3wh I'm just describing what is essentially their entire relationship. It doesn't need to be spoken by Judai to know how he felt for Johan.
In my opinion, Judai's relationship with Johan is unparalleled to everyone else in the show, *including* Yubel. At one point, Yubel comments that the love Judai's former self used to have for them now belongs to Johan, and *Judai doesn't deny it.* It's canonical that Judai and Johan love each other; whether you view their love as platonic, romantic or whatever, their relationship by far the strongest, most complex relationship in the series.
ULGROTHA Yeah, maybe complex wasn’t the right wording. And yes, Judai loves Yubel but I think in a different way to how he loves Johan. People often try to compare their relationships but I don’t think they can be compared. Yubel is literally part of Judai, whereas Johan is like his soulmate.
I love the fact that anime series from mid 2000s has better gay representation than the disney's beauty and the beast remake. God Johan is so likable and this video makes him even more likeable.
Yes because this one treated the characters as characters. Disney treats their minority characters as symbols/tokens. They're nothing more than quotas in a notebook they need to fill before every movie
I feel like the ones who are confirmed to be actually gay by the staff outside appear more asexual in-show, while same-sex people who are only said to be friends in canon have tons of homoerotic moments. It's always between the characters just stated as friends that have the gayest moments, from what I've seen. BatB's is confirmed gay while this is pretty much interpretation, so that makes sense
While I do view Judai and Johan's relationship as romantic, their bond is honestly just really incredible. I honestly forgot how much stress Judai's friend group put on him by having him basically do everything for them, so I can only imagine how confused and stressed out Judai was when Johan tried to handle his own situation. Johan was honestly such a great balance to Judai, but as some people have pointed out, I kinda wish that they delved more into the connection that the two felt when they first met as there's a theory going around that Johan also had a past life who possibly met Haou. Also, can I just thank you for those clips of Jaden saying "Jesse" and his terrible Texan accent? Because they nearly made me choke on my cereal.
There's a Yugioh card called Crystal Keeper that looks a lot like Johan as a blond knight. Gave me the head canon that Johan might have been Judai's knight in his past life.
I always liked the idea that it's like how Yugi, Kaiba, and Bakura were modern "reincarnates" of Atem, Priest Seto, and Thief King Bakura, in some form or another at least. That since Judai was the Supreme King, Johan was a reincarnate of, or parallel to Yubel. Yugi and Bakura both still had their ancient Egyptian counterparts souls still floating around in the millenium items when they were born, so it's not out of the question for Johan to be "this Judai's Yubel" while og Yubel is still around.
You mean the "Mamoru" theory that Johan was also in Judai's past life and then reincarnated? I like that. I wish they would have done something to make it canon.
@MuraYeEto I see them more as brothers in the dub, due to how 4Kids censored a lot of things. The sub, however, made it pretty hard for me not to ship them 😂
@@lucyverse4908 I for one DON'T see Jaden and Jesse like brothers in either in the English dub and the original Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh GX but I respect your opinion.
@@lucyverse4908 But you right that it's extremely hard NOT to ship Jaden and Jesse as a Romantic Couple in the original version Japanese of Yu-Gi-Oh GX! XD
One thing I appreciate with Johan is that his deck does not use fusions, which makes him stand out a bit more from the other characters (and yes, I know Alexis har ritual monsters, which is really nice)
Which is interesting, because Rainbow Dragon seemed like it really should have been a fusion. It'd even fit with how it's not a part of his deck at first, and gets added into the extra deck later.
@@snowboundwhale6860 Yeah, but I like that they decided to keep it a normal monster - kinda felt like Johan should have had a deck with more than 7 monster cards in it though haha
@@legofan4409 mmm, especially since the story heavily implies each of the Crystal Beasts is one of a kind. Plot lets people pull whatever it needs at the time, but 7/40 isn't good odds for drawing monsters, let alone as many as he frequently does.
@@snowboundwhale6860 Yeah, and the fact that he doesn't have any other fusion monsters is sort of odd/ makes it feel very much like he has plot armor when opponents whip out monsters with 2000+ attacks and special effects while he only has 7 monsters. I know there have been some crystal beast support, but does that mean more crystal monsters? Becuase a pro duelist like Johan should have more than 8 monsters in his deck lol
When I watched it, I thought the most important thing was Judai being able to have an equal relationship with anyone. Johan could see spirits like him and also didn't rely on him to save his ass constantly. It just seemed like his first actual friendship. And wether or not it was romantic seems kind of secondary to me, I just want Judai to be happy :(
Also in Season 4, in the Battle Royale Duel with Judai against Fujiwara, they Trolled Fujiwara making he believe he found the Darkness in Johan’s heart and making fight Johan Against Judai. But when Johan activates a Trap that makes his Monster gain ATK equal to the Damage he took from a Card effect (wich was by the Card “Damage Interest, wich doubles the Damage you took from a battle), they start to laugh and Johan reverses his attack back to Fujiwara. For me, this is one of the best moments in Season 4 of Gx
12:27 In the Japanese language, the word 'love' used here (好き) has varying levels of love, and has broad applications to express likeness/love . In Japan, it's not uncommon to say it to express fondness among friends. But Judai + Johan is a hill I'm willing to die on. Their not-so-subtle boss monster fusion is RAINBOW neos.
I think it’s probably called that because it’s made of rainbow dragon and neos. I don’t think that necessitates a particularly elaborate explanation. Now on the other hand, I think it’s fairly obvious what the existence of uforoid fighter implies.
4Kids Season 3 has a good story. But I still can't watch it in the original english because it's played like a joke. Most of the voiceacting and the phrasing of the lines is just...no. Good thing the dub of my region did it better.
I love Johan and judai so much! Be it platonic or romantically together, I don't give a shit. Johan is really a wonderful character and their friendship is really awesome to watch. Judai even ended up doing the thing Johan said he dreams and will make it his goal in life to do so. "Showing and helping to bridge the relationship between humans and duel spirits" Btw the fact that johan's va is an actual female when they can obviously find a male selyuu easily just feeds to my ship for them 😂 I know I'm sprouting nonsense for that but let me live my ship dream ok? Oh and what's with that sentence that they said at the first episode they met? "I feel like I knew you from long ago" " me too" And this was never mentioned again. For what is the point for them to put this line in? 😏 This just makes me believe judai and Johan were at least really best friends in their past life. Either he really was in love with him but felt responsible towards yubel thus gave yubel his love instead since yubel gave and modified their own life for judai, or they in the least are close best friend as I said. I would think I'm grabbing straws but hey yubel is the one confirming with us that indeed past lives is a thing in gx lol I hope youre happy now melon for reviving my love for this ship once again
"Johans dream is to bridge the gap between the duel monsters spirit world and the human world" "he wants the spirits to be safe and for humans to live in harmony with them" .....so Johan is the avatar confirmed....
@ULGROTHA not to your answer. I was talking about that description. Although Konami should make a FIRE attribute Gem Beast monster to be the Elemental Bender
Jesse is by far my favourite character in any yugioh series. Followed by Zane and the fact that people shit on GX baffles me. I really enjoy the series and you have made me start watching the sub to see what ive been missing :P
For me it wasn't just the anime I trash on, it's the GX era as a whole. There's things that upset me: Bad Anime Archetypes (Neos, Vehicroids, Arcana Force), Geminis, DAD deck.
These anime writers were all closeted gays werent they. I mean rainbow dragon. This vudeo wasn't shipping propaganda but if you slap some tits on Johan call him Johanna, he becomes the Damsal to Judai's hero. Emotional support Love interest Damsal dies and the hero goes ape shit. The tropes are all there.
I loved Johan so much that i had the Rainbow Dragon/Crystal Beast deck back when synchros and XYZ began start popping. I always lost because well (the decks from GX where a lil' slower than the ones that came after...). Anyways, i loved that deck so much that i modified it, leaving it somewhat "competitiveish" and winning a couple of duels against somewhat "renown" guys from the Yu-Gi-Oh! community in my city. I was so stubborn in changing or "updating" my deck, that people started to call me "The Crystal-boy", and it was kinda funny but i really liked being called that. Pd: Crystal Abundance was an amazingly OP card.
Its so nice to hear someone else talk about how Johan is the first person Judai can really lean on, I've been rambling to my friends (who really don't care but like it when I talk about things I like) on this topic for ages. Also, as a ship thing, my favourite small thing is in season 4 when Fujiwara says 'when these two are together, they can create miracles.' Like, Judai has tons of magical powers at that point, but Johan is the thing that makes them both capable of miracles. Nothing stronger than two boyfriends fighting to protect each other!
Another wonderful moment when it comes to Judai and Johan is in season 4. After Judai escapes the exploding Kaiba Corp and is being manipulated by the dark energy. Johan to the rescue. Not only trying to make sure he’s ok after Judai literally rolls off a motorcycle that then explodes but then when Judai acting erratic demands a duel. Johan uses his cards to get through to Judai through the duel releasing what hold the dark energy had on him. Even when he isn’t perpetually around like in season 3. Our boy Johan is still there for Judai when he absolutely needs him and I just think that’s *chef’s kiss* perfection.
I think Johan (Jesse) is either from Denmark or Norway since in Sweden it would have been "Andersson" instead of "Andersen" however if we look at the story between Johan and Judai it's kinda similar to the story between Kai and Gerda from The Snow Queen (With Yubel as the Snow Queen), which is a book written by a Danish author Hans Christan "Andersen"
Eh, I'm not dismissing your argument outright. But I don't think they intentionally tried to make him sound more masculine with the Texas accent. These are the people who made Amber Mammoth sound like Arnold. I think they just saw dubbing GX as another job and they did it to entertain themselves so they don't get bored lol
I already had some of the same thoughts about Johan, but you've given me an even bigger appreciation for his character. I really wish him and some other characters had more to do in season 4.
Maybe the reason his other friends images broke was because he saw them die in real time? While Johan is a speculation, so he has to make sure. He probably skipped some grieving steps with the others and went straight to acceptance, but with Johan he can cling to the hope of his most reliable guy to stay alive.
America is also the name of both continents in the west if you've gotten my friend, our technical name is "The United States" we only refer to it as such because no one wants to be called a 'United Statesian'
I wish more people didn't just brush off Johan as Judai's boyfriend, and actually gave him the proper respect he deserves. I swear people just see Johan and be like "Omg blue Judai !!! They'er the same aha now kiss !!" Like- I get it if you ship them, I do too, but there's more to them then just that smh.
I reapect Yohan, and the shipping propaganda (Give Judai a boyfriend!), but what I am concerned is about the anti Sho propaganda. Sho is a good boy that deals with a lot, most of it relates to his brother. He may not be Judai's best friend, but he's his first friend, and one of the most important. Also, he actually evolves. Yohan makes Judai evolve, but he himself doesn't change much. Sho actually goes through a lot in the show, at least relatively to a side character. The worst you could say is that his arc is just Yugi's arc all over again, but I'd argue that Sho's journey has much more valleys than Yugi's...
9:46 Oh, I didn't know that there were two versions of the third opening! :O It's amazing that they changed the scene, it's like a little spoiler, but people don't notice at the beginning, because it's a well hidden scene. A secret spoiler scene ... :O
Little fun fact Gem-Knights could be a reference or homage to Johan and Judais Frienship the Gem-Knight Fusion looks very similar to a Crystal beast card i forgot the name of (maybe Crystal Abundance but i honestly don't remember im sorry) and the wonder fusion that supports HERO fusions
Being someone who grew up on the Dub and even though Syrus was like "THEY'RE TWINS", I knew something gay was happening there. Even though I grew up in a tiny minded village, I knew if one of them was a girl, they would've kissed by now. So even though I haven't given the original sub a watch yet (I've seen clips and I watched Season 4, but that was it), it's really great that theory/analysis videos like this exist so I can get a broader idea about what actually happened in the original subtitles while the Dub were all like "Yubel wants revenge on Jaden for shooting **her** into space and *she's* doing everything to get revenge on Jaden for that". Thank you for all your hard work!
I see GX in a whole nother light now. This video is a masterpiece. Thank you for taking the time and actually making me appreciate it more than I already did (it was already my favorite). I can never get enough of your GX videos!
I kind of like that though, Judai distances himself from everyone because of what happens in Season 3 and when Judai duels Truman and then realises it’s Johan it’s genuinely quite emotional. Plus that triangle duel near the end is amazing and it’s like the only time I remember Judai laughing in season 4, which I just think shows Johans impact on him.
@@benny_boy19 Their tag duel in season 4 was amazing because they actually fooled me at first and made me believe that Johan was starting to get taken over, but they were just play acting. To be able to pull that off showed some great communication and teamwork on Judai and Johan's part.
I feel like they wrote themselves into a hole in season 4 with Johan though. Because they needed to cut him out so Alexis could be the one to bring Judai back around to enjoying duels
I want your tea on whether or not Yubel was originally a boy. I feel its PAINFULLY obvious that they were and it would make more sense that Yubel would feel threatened by Johan's relationship with Judai if they knew a romantic relationship between men wasn't out of the question. Bc otherwise Yubel should also go on a murder spree against Rei and Asuka for having blatant crushes on Jaden but nope. Its a sus detail, especially when Yubel only possesses boys because surprise, they feel more akin to them because they WERE one. Also also, the odd similarities between Johan and human Yubel. (Blue hair and green eyes albiet different shades, young voice, both of them saying straight up they'd do anything/die for Judai and that weird crystal on Yubel's head maybe being a nudge to the Crystal Beasts?) It's almost like Jaden is destined to be entertwined with this particular soul. Its as if in a perfect life without the need for chaos and this Light Dark shenanigans, Johan is the idealised version of Yubel because he gets to be happy with Judai without any need for tragedy between them. It could also be another subtle reason as to why Yubel possessed him, because they think its unfair and by doing this, Judai and Johan's idealised relationship can be ruined like Yubel's.
There is no single scene where Yubel is angry that other people like Judai though. All their statements have been about how Johan makes Judai feel differently and questioning if Judai loves Johan instead of them. Canon only shows that Yubel hates it when Judai likes other people, not the other way around. So Yubel not going on a murder spree on Rei and Asuka just proves that Judai isn't interested in them.
@@srehh5529 I guess thats true, but I wouldnt put it past Yubel to get jealous and spiteful if other peolle do like Judai (without him liking them back) since they were sending people he merely played with into comas left and right when he was a kid. They were threatened by literally everyone.
Honestly, it is kinda funny to me how the writers made Yubel interact with Rei to begin with(Even if it was just because of Martin). She has no real relevance to the plot, she's just kinda there.
No matter how we examine their bond, it’s very obvious that Johan is just more considerate of Judai’s feelings than all of his peers. Of all of Judai’s supporting cast, I only ever liked Johan, Monjoume, Misawa, O’Brien, Jim and I guess Asuka. Tenzan and Sho could disappear from the story and I wouldn’t notice
I can see why a lot of people ship these two super hard, romance usually occurs when two people that enjoy each other’s company has to interact for a prolonged period of time. Of course that’s also how good friendships comes to be but i think the way the writers constructed the characters dialogue in relation to Johan, specially Judai’s dialogue to give weird feelers that there might be something more than just friendship while leaving it cloudy enough to be pass as friendship for the people who dont see it that way makes me believe it was intentional. The way I see it, the guy who wrote it knew damn well what he was doing, he knew there was a market for this kind of “BFF shipping” so he wrote it pink like that. :v
ULGROTHA nah, that wouldn’t be pg 13, you keep things like romance for the end of the series just in case people get mad, or you make it as exaggerated and childish as possible so people just glance over it.
Romantic love is a theme of season 3 in the Japanese version. Yubel is in love with Judai, and wants to get back together. Yubel also describes Johan as "the boy who took Judai's love away from me", which certainly implies they see him as a romantic rival at the very least.
1dbad like i said: if there’s romance its is exaggerated to the point of absurdity to be shared to a younger audience. I guaranteed if yubel wasn’t so hyper in her delivery the writers would have to change yubel’s dialogue to keep it pg13.
@@TheGaboefects Even Japanese shows for kids tend to have subtext. Yubel is non-binary in the Japanese version, and even alternates between a male and female voice actor when speaking. It's also implied Yubel was a male in their past life, yet that didn't stop Judai from confessing his never ending love to them. I feel like him possibly having feelings for Johan too isn't that far fetched given that.
1dbad I didn’t say it was extremely far fetch, i said in this case it had to be kept nebulous enough so it could be interpreted in many ways, two young characters showcasing serious romantic intentions is something that does not happen often in media targeted to kids. Usually is so childish or over the top it tends to be look over. And while i agree that they decided to give yubel a male and female voice to be paired with her androgynous body i dont think it was meant to be read as “Hey lets give it a male and female voice and make it an hermaphrodite” but rather “This is a monster card, why don’t we give it two different voices to accentuate how creepy it is?”
Damn, from the start I loved Jesse as a character and respected him but after this video I think he's one of the most important and good characters in the entire yugioh
Amazing video as always, I love your character analysis and editing is top notch. I am now praying to Armityle that you will finish off the GX character analysis with Yubel (my favourite character of all Yu-Gi-Oh! anime). Also, a bit of a shame that you didn't touch upon Juudai's and Johan's relationship in season 4. Because, it's clear Juudai doesn't depend on him as he did before...... and YET who would come to save Juudai from Trueman's influence than our favourite Crystal Boy (seriously, why the hell was he in Domino City? at that precise time??)
Yeah Yugioh is a kids show that lets kids save the world with a kid's card game and its obvious that the reason for dueling is basically a reason to live, but I still god damn love this show and without Johan Judai would never have been in my opinion the best yugioh protagonist. Plus their story is done well because they didnt make a whole thing about gender it could be understood in any way if some people want to think its a romantic love or just a love between friends its about love in the end and people needing each other meanwhile modern shows try to force it down your throat while this made it about it without beating you over the head with it
The fact that Judai was about to fall to the Darkness, when almost everyone in the world already had and he was the last hope, Johan appears and saves him. Johan isn't a main protagonist and he was one of the 3 people on the wolrd that didn't lose to the Darkness. They quite literally had to off screen him cause they didn't want him to be there for Judai during the last duel lol
Ok, I'm just gonna put this out there. In basically every Yugioh series at some point the love interest is kidnapped and the hero has to go on a quest where they are put in life and death battles in order to rescue them. Tea, Akiza, Tori, Zuzu, they all get kidnapped at some point in time. This doesn't happen to Alexis. (For a prolonged period of time. She's basically captured for one duel) No, in GX is Johan. Also, the boy has a giant rainbow dragon. Like, they weren't being subtle here.
At least in _this_ show's case, the alleged love interest was only in jeopardy in another dimension and separated from all they knew for _half_ a season, as opposed to most of the show with zero substantive emotional follow-up when they _finally_ reunite. ...gods I hate what Arc-V became...
ITS MY BOY!! i love this blue haired boy!!! he good boy and kinda want a small spinoff of him just to see his adventures cause i love this boy. Country boooyyy, I love u 🤪 Also as a gay living in texas, its getting better on the not being so closed minded but then again i like an hour away from Austin.
I've never seen such in-depth analysis videos of characters from Yu-Gi-Oh GX. As someone whos favorite series was GX and favorite characters being Judai, Johan and Yubel, consider me very happy to have stumbled upon this video tonight. Also your use of memes are just perfect.
![Was Jesse About To Defeat Jaden? [Jewel of a Duel]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gQUm-0k6Dko/mqdefault.jpg)
Man these videos really just prove how completely underrated YuGiOh’s writing is
They did so many bad decisions in season 1 and half of season 2 so can't really blame people for undermining it
It isnt underrated at all, for everything good thats done with yugiohs plot there's 10 shitty choices that make no sense.
@@azfarabdullah9638 Honestly despite the rulings season 1 is iconic still my favorite to this day. Nothing beats it.
My only problem with season 2 is how badly mai was treated she won one duel against a guy we never saw again. And it completely broke my heart how they made her look as if she wasn't part of the group and doubting herself if they even liked her.
The noah arc... this was wierd they should have not splashed it during the tournament. Mb i would've liked it then. The only thing i liked is that it showed the rest of the group dueling even Serenity.
Everything after gx i dont hate but it's just not the same for me. I'll admit i have my favorite moments from 5ds and zexal too. Everything after that i haven't watched.
No like Come on , Yu-Gi-Oh GX writing is terrible
@@Thepokedek battle city is the only part of DM I can go back and watch. I only like about 6 episodes of GX, I can still watch most of 5ds and zexal. ARCV is unabashed trash and Vrains was just boring.
I can't tell if this a character analysis video or shipping propaganda
But im here for both
pretty sure they meant to be togethet
Maybe I'm not up-to-speed on internet slang, but is it really considered shipping if the source material itself shows how 2 characters love each other?
@@yetiornot5726 the show never actually states it but it's heavily implied
@@yetiornot5726 yes
@@scaredofsociety6351 the show never actually states that Bastion fucks a tiger, but we all know what happened
In season 1, after Shou starts calling Judai "aniki", Judai tells him to stop, insisting they're equals. Shou doesn't. When Kenzan appears later and also calls him "aniki" Judai appears to be resigned. He ignores their weird infighting over his attention, and he always seemed kind of awkward to me about the whole thing. Then there's Kaiser, Manjoume and Edo who, while they are his friends, also have a rivalry with him. They act like they're better than Judai.
And then Johan comes and after their duel, they go up on the roof and talk about their mistakes and how they both could've done better, and there's no inferiority or superiority. Johan being Judai's true and honest equal is such a breath of fresh air that it's kind of no wonder they became so close so quickly.
The cast breaks the fourth wall in Japanese preview with Sho getting tired of Judai's friendship with Johan
@@tintor2 I read this on tv tropes once, but have no idea which episode it's in. Would you know?
@@seqka711 A friend from twitter told me. It's probably the first episodes of season 3 after the first duel Judai has with Johan
♂️Aniki♂️
That detail just breaks your heart because Jaden truly didn't have friends in GX. He either had people who constantly looked up to him or looked down at him and when he needed people to just be his friends their answers were heart breaking.
Jesse had a texan accent to potray the characters in brokeback mountain yehaw gay cowboyssss
*P L U M*
*C O L L A P S E D*
I mean, this was the season where the dub went Abridged level meta. You never know. ;)
@@1dbad
Amon/Adrian: "Before you Chazz me, I'm gonna have to activate my face down card,"
THE Chazz: "But HOW!?"
Amon/Adrian: "Simple, I just dramatically yell out the name of the card and it appears. Have you played this game before? It's a really common ocurrence..."
What ever do you mean lol.
My thoughts exactly. Johan/Jesse is Jack and Jaden is Ennis! Now I'm dead...🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That’s western portrayal
ARE WE SERIOUSLY STILL ON GX????
good
bad
@@haxmode6935 No u
the ugly
@ULGROTHA It still gets me to this day that certain individuals think that Arcv is gx done right when it is kinda the opposite of arcv getting worse over time and gx getting better.
500th like
Good job man
This beautiful Scandinavian is the only man jaden ever loved
Not just Jesse, but Yuka (my OC) is also the one whom Jaden loves.
I'm honestly shocked you didn't talk about Season 4.
1) Judai was cursed to see everyone as an enemy, including Johan. Even us as viewers were shown a generic enemy instead of Johan. Then Johan dueled Judai, realized exactly what was happening, and snapped Judai out of it. All this without losing doubt - Johan was in full control of that entire situation. He knew Jaden that well.
2) Then they tag dueled against an evil character who looked into their souls and saw their bond. It described Judai as "Johan's light", so the evil one decided to break that bond. It looked successful when Judai and Johan started attacking each other in the Duel - only for them to start laughing. It was all a ruse to get a combo going. Those two were able to hit each other while darkness incarnate was trying to turn them against one another, and still be allies, without even discussing the plan beforehand.
3) IIRC Johan is the last human to survive the incoming darkness, except Judai himself. None of Judai's friends got this kind of treatment.
4) All the S3 characters were handled so well, it's what the series needed from the start. My only complaint is Judai's original friends got the shaft in S3 - extremely overshadowed by the newcomers, to say nothing of becoming soul fuel to create a meta card. (side note: friends sacrificed for power? Anyone else getting Berserk vibes from that scene?)
For what it's worth, S4 fixed the writing for Judai's original friends, who got some depressingly realistic character development arcs.
5) As a last point, S3 GX deconstructed the entire idea of being the invincible hero of the story. You mentioned how Judai fixed every crisis so far, so now he feels only he can fix the new one. I'll add that Judai *did* fix everything right before the Dark World arc, except Johan was missing. Obviously Judai rejected this outcome, and IIRC he did this out of pure care for Johan - he didn't get lured by Viper, Yubel, Darkness, or candy, he went willingly. Suddenly, losing a Duel means literal death, *and* it means Johan dies since no one can save him. Suddenly, being the invincible hero of your show is a liability; you're no longer a nobody that saves the day. Instead, you have monsters acknowledge you as a threat. They target you (and your friends) to prevent you from saving the world. Judai was stressed the fuck out, and this is all a consequence of his bond with Johan. And when Judai did snap, he became the Supreme King and used his apparent invincibility to *conquer the world in a few days*. It took the end of S4 for GX to acknowledge how much Judai changed, for better and worse, and the entire point of the epilogue duel was to give Judai back the ability to have fun Dueling, without any world-ending shebangs.
TLDR: while Yubel was the destination, Johan was the guide on the road, and S4 fittingly concluded all that was gained and lost on that road.
The season 3 characters weren’t done well Gecko was forgotten Jim too but at least he didn’t have a forgotten arc Axel was great I kinda wish he beat Trueman but since seemingly the only people were Kaiba, Jaden and Johan he didn’t do too bad though damn Nightshroud can manipulate memories
@@Deathmare235 Even tho Adrian was a mess himself, the season would be worse without him. The bigger issue is that people were confirmed not dead at the end of Season3, which means he just ducked off or sth, idk. Ironically, it is the dub that fixes this(I say that a lot recently, funny thing) by not only saying everyone can infact return specifically after beating yubel(Meaning everyone who doesn't confirmed return just died in the process, which are not enough chars, but Adrien is one of the two it applies to) and Season 3 is the end, so it is less instantly obvious that his characterarc was forgotten.
S4 didn’t fix his friends it gave them great arcs but just the arcs and not the rest of the story except for maybe Alexis but that’s cause of her brother
@@lpfan4491 Adrian is a great character and it’s not just him but also the lost dorm students the only one who could’ve had a fitting end is Zane since he could’ve counted as dead instead of missing
It's fine guys Judai said no homo
Can't wait for the vid about Chumley.
Also, I like how your map of Europe has Kingdom of Yugoslavia on it. You may not like it but that is what peak Balkan Performace looks like.
That is a lot of undeniable sexualidad tension but it is not gay since it is between bros
Hey, great video. I always associate GX with bittersweet feelings because the subversion, plot and Judai's transformation are phenomenal. I have issues with GX but it's one of my favourites. YGO in general, especially in japanese original version, has a very dark tone. The first YGO universe, starting from season 0, has a very different tone from the dub. I would love to see your video on Shou...or maybe a video on Yugi and other Yugi/Yami/Atemu. For some reason a lot of people compare Shou and Yugi but I think it's an unfair comparison. Yugi had a big role, he wasn't just there. I think people forget Yami started as a really dark character with no moral compass. He did help Yugi but enjoyed mentally crushing Yugi's bullies. Yugi thaught Yami to become better, more human. Personally, I think it was Yugi (... and Bakura) that pushed Yami's character development throughout the seasons, not Kaiba. This is not to say Shou is completely useless, just that comparison between him and Yugi is unfair, in my opinion. Yugi even at his worst in season 0 did things out of some misplaced sense of obligation or loyalty - but he did them himself. Hope you do more YGO vids! Whichever season or universe, who cares it's YGO :-)
As someone who lives in Texas I have got to say Jesse's accent is so cringy and also even for someone who hasn't seen GX yet (I'm still on season 4 of duel monsters) you tell the story's of the show incredibly well and just make me want to watch it even more, please keep making amazing videos(and maybe some on duel monsters as well😁)
As long as he is worthy of his grace
Hella love this dude, being the only true 'equal' to Judai and the only real friend, save from maybe Chazz and his quirkiness
U forgot the 'boy' in front of 'friend'
@@Cordolliah no, you can have a meaningful platonic relationship lolq
@@bboywolf u def can but those two are def romantic soulmates fight me
@@Cordolliah what about besties or bros? it happens lots of time in stories about camaraderie
@@richardo490 yeah they can be besties and lovers at the same time. And like I said earlier I think the best word to describe them is soulmates cus of how much Judai goes thru for Johan and how much they mean to each other. Just let us have ONE non straight relationship yugioh I beg you.
E-Hero’s and Crystal Beasts had a gay love child in Gem Knights
I never thought of it like that
I'm ashamed of myself for never noticing that before.
It was so obvious!
I thank you for curing my blindness.
And Gem-Knights were the first and only physical deck I ever own. I just loved the art and play style of Gem-Knights.
No stop it, get some help - michael Jordan
Jesse doesn’t even use beasts in his manga deck
Normally with a lot of shipping stuff I think it’s reaching but this is entirely different Yu-gi-oh had a pan sexual protagonist who was in a love triangle with a non-binary demon and European who understood him on a deeper level and it’s kinda amazing.
It really is! It makes me sad GX doesn't come up more in LGBT Anime Characters discussions and videos. Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal also had a canonically bisexual character with Alito.
@ULGROTHA Watch episode 80 of Zexal subbed! :)
@ULGROTHA Minor spoilers: Alito crushes on a girl that episode, and his crush sequence is later repeated but with a male character instead. (dub only removed the male crush sequence) The World Championship 3DS game further confirms it, with the end of his storyline having him ask a male character out. (interestingly the game localization did NOT censor this out like 4Kids did)
Its it really a relationship if the demon is allways inside you?.... I know that sounds wrong, but thats a serious question
ULGROTHA i feel i really didnt need to know that considering the milenial age gap, but thanks anyway
Just to mention, the fully realised version of Judai’s character is shown in the Bonds Beyond Time movie- this is the form of Judai that lies at the end of all his character development.
Notice that this version of Judai isn’t a natural leader, he’s just a guy who travels the world (and hangs out in Venice? For... some reason?) for fun, having adventures.
Someone watched LK....
Maybe Judai is searching for his boyfriend in Venice? Johan is European, after all. Judai could be just extremely confused about where in Europe Johan is, being Japanese and Judai...
@@strubberyg7451 dont give me hope xD
@@yukikariuwu5773 Sorry, but you activated my script card! Here's the fanfic script for the GX movie that will (probably) never happen:
It's been 5 years after graduation. Judai is still searching his boyfriend in Europe, he finds Johan's family and they said he's in a pro contract with a guy that believes in duel spirits. Johan thinks this guy will help him with his mission, but that agent just wants to use them (a-le Kagemaru).
Now what the film is, besides Judai reuniting with his lover, is an actual chance Judai's friends to help him back. He really helped them for three years, asking nothing in return. Now they help him without being asked.
It's also just a victory lap for all our favorite characters. Sho mastering the roid, cyber and dark cyber decks and standing up on his own, Manjome balancing his personality with the chillness that season 1 Judai instilled in him (maybe he actually uses the Light and Darkness Dragon), Asuka finding a new way of teaching (like, maybe instead of forcing her style of dueling she realizes that every duelist has their own style, so she helps them nurture and realize it. Said realization comes from seeing Judai duels for three years). Just seeing how our beloved characters progressed in life...
So Judai, besides that searching for Yohan plot, actually ponders if he should do that. After all, this is Johan's choice. He doesn't have to butt in his life. Maybe Johan's got his own plans. And for once the world is not at stake here. The world doesn't need a hero. No one needs saving.
But it doesn't mean Judai doesn't have the right to butt in. Judai should try and persue his wishes and desires. He doesn't have to cancel himself for the sake of others. That's the emotional journey Judai goes through the story. That's what his friends help him realize. That's where Judai gets his strength from in the last act of this theoretical film.
Now I know I've transformed the script from Yaoi bait to an actual conclusion to the story, but I want the movie to end with Judai jumping at Johan, yelling "I love you". I know that this is just Card capturer Sakura's movie's (or was it an OVA?) ending, bit it's still a must!
@@strubberyg7451 And Bastion was never seen again. Or misawa, if you prefer that.
To see someone this passionate about Gx like me is a treat. Definetly will watch your other gx videos. Gx is definetly my favorite series.
It's a breath of fresh air. GX was easily my favorite yugioh series flaws and all and I loved Jaden.
GX as an generation, not my favorite for many reasons I will disclose soon. Though there are things I like: Manga, Contact Fusion, Structure Decks, Secret Rares.
I was born in 99 so GX was my introduction to the series. I like 5d’s just a teeeeeeeny bit more.
Johan. The therapy Judai desperately needed.
And deserved
Yuka (my OC) needs Johan as well.
Find a man who will disregard all his friends who he has spent the last 2 years with bonding and going on crazy journeys just to go and risk himself and his friends to save you.
to be fair jaden did try to go alone and they chose to follow him in.....and i was jaden's crazy yandere card ex that took over jesse in the first place.
@@clarisacalderon9555 Breaking down GX to absurdity is one on my and my friends' favorite joke threads.
"Remember when the androgynous trading card spirit was so overprotective of Protagonist-kun that they sent people to the hospital and then got jealous over Protagonist-kun's new boyfriend? Or when Protagonist-kun chased his new boyfriend to literally hell and then unleashed a tyrant that was his past life?
@@clarisacalderon9555 Or my personal favorite: remember when Jaden got a deck upgrade because he was so distraught in losing a card game that he traveled to a distant planet in his dreams, met an anthropomorphic dolphin and looted a crashed satellite for a deck of cards that he made up when he was a child because Seto Fucking Kaiba wanted to challenge heretofore unknown aliens to card games?
@@yetiornot5726 my sisters stilldon't believe me when I explained the cards from space fixing jaden's card blindness.
And who has as much plot armor as you when you run only 8 monsters and 32 spells and traps
The elephant monster with Arnold Schwarzenegger accent is one of the rare dub>sub voices.
You'd be surprised to know that's actually Sean Schemmel, the voice of Goku.
UComments Oh, you must be talking about Crystal Beef Arnold Mammoth.
Same with Atticus. I mean, the guys voiced by god damn sonic
Schmaden Schumki is another one.
You know what the entire GX dub was golden.
If only they made the final season.
The “why are you gay” edit is comedy gold omg
The school is also to blame. If they didn’t treat Judai like card playing Jesus, then he probably wouldn’t have issues in season 3.
You effed up bro
(The moment when one thinks about how Season 3 is literally on the headmaster.)
@@lpfan4491 yeah but he’s a dilf so its okay
Man, that Judai and Johan, such good friends, eh?
Doing things for each other that only friends do!
'You are literally the only thing that makes me feel happy Johan, you're my rock. For you, I literally went crazy just to be with you again and the thought of you being alive was the only thing that kept me from dying.'
BEST FRIENDS
What episode this happen?
@@PedroHenrique-uq3wh I'm just describing what is essentially their entire relationship. It doesn't need to be spoken by Judai to know how he felt for Johan.
"You are my everything and my reason for living, other male character"
Dubbers: JUST 2 GUYS BEING PALS
In my opinion, Judai's relationship with Johan is unparalleled to everyone else in the show, *including* Yubel. At one point, Yubel comments that the love Judai's former self used to have for them now belongs to Johan, and *Judai doesn't deny it.*
It's canonical that Judai and Johan love each other; whether you view their love as platonic, romantic or whatever, their relationship by far the strongest, most complex relationship in the series.
ULGROTHA Yeah, maybe complex wasn’t the right wording. And yes, Judai loves Yubel but I think in a different way to how he loves Johan. People often try to compare their relationships but I don’t think they can be compared. Yubel is literally part of Judai, whereas Johan is like his soulmate.
I love the fact that anime series from mid 2000s has better gay representation than the disney's beauty and the beast remake.
God Johan is so likable and this video makes him even more likeable.
Yes because this one treated the characters as characters. Disney treats their minority characters as symbols/tokens. They're nothing more than quotas in a notebook they need to fill before every movie
@@ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣΛΑΧΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ I mean most Hollywood minority characters are treated as symbols/tokens
@@wolfekupo5651 Yes. And Disney started that bad trend
I feel like the ones who are confirmed to be actually gay by the staff outside appear more asexual in-show, while same-sex people who are only said to be friends in canon have tons of homoerotic moments. It's always between the characters just stated as friends that have the gayest moments, from what I've seen. BatB's is confirmed gay while this is pretty much interpretation, so that makes sense
Hes not gay tf
While I do view Judai and Johan's relationship as romantic, their bond is honestly just really incredible.
I honestly forgot how much stress Judai's friend group put on him by having him basically do everything for them, so I can only imagine how confused and stressed out Judai was when Johan tried to handle his own situation. Johan was honestly such a great balance to Judai, but as some people have pointed out, I kinda wish that they delved more into the connection that the two felt when they first met as there's a theory going around that Johan also had a past life who possibly met Haou.
Also, can I just thank you for those clips of Jaden saying "Jesse" and his terrible Texan accent? Because they nearly made me choke on my cereal.
There's a Yugioh card called Crystal Keeper that looks a lot like Johan as a blond knight. Gave me the head canon that Johan might have been Judai's knight in his past life.
I always liked the idea that it's like how Yugi, Kaiba, and Bakura were modern "reincarnates" of Atem, Priest Seto, and Thief King Bakura, in some form or another at least. That since Judai was the Supreme King, Johan was a reincarnate of, or parallel to Yubel. Yugi and Bakura both still had their ancient Egyptian counterparts souls still floating around in the millenium items when they were born, so it's not out of the question for Johan to be "this Judai's Yubel" while og Yubel is still around.
You mean the "Mamoru" theory that Johan was also in Judai's past life and then reincarnated? I like that. I wish they would have done something to make it canon.
This may not be shipping propaganda, but from what you have said they are absolutely boyfriends and I cannot WAIT to experience it subbed
THIS ^^^
@Alexisfantrust Hey, can we talk tomorrow, please? I think this is not the best time to talk.
@MuraYeEto I see them more as brothers in the dub, due to how 4Kids censored a lot of things. The sub, however, made it pretty hard for me not to ship them 😂
@@lucyverse4908 I for one DON'T see Jaden and Jesse like brothers in either in the English dub and the original Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh GX but I respect your opinion.
@@lucyverse4908 But you right that it's extremely hard NOT to ship Jaden and Jesse as a Romantic Couple in the original version Japanese of Yu-Gi-Oh GX! XD
Don't worry, there's no bigger shipping propaganda for these two than the anime itself
One thing I appreciate with Johan is that his deck does not use fusions, which makes him stand out a bit more from the other characters (and yes, I know Alexis har ritual monsters, which is really nice)
She first uses fusions and later started using rituals
Which is interesting, because Rainbow Dragon seemed like it really should have been a fusion. It'd even fit with how it's not a part of his deck at first, and gets added into the extra deck later.
@@snowboundwhale6860 Yeah, but I like that they decided to keep it a normal monster - kinda felt like Johan should have had a deck with more than 7 monster cards in it though haha
@@legofan4409 mmm, especially since the story heavily implies each of the Crystal Beasts is one of a kind. Plot lets people pull whatever it needs at the time, but 7/40 isn't good odds for drawing monsters, let alone as many as he frequently does.
@@snowboundwhale6860 Yeah, and the fact that he doesn't have any other fusion monsters is sort of odd/ makes it feel very much like he has plot armor when opponents whip out monsters with 2000+ attacks and special effects while he only has 7 monsters. I know there have been some crystal beast support, but does that mean more crystal monsters?
Becuase a pro duelist like Johan should have more than 8 monsters in his deck lol
When I watched it, I thought the most important thing was Judai being able to have an equal relationship with anyone. Johan could see spirits like him and also didn't rely on him to save his ass constantly. It just seemed like his first actual friendship. And wether or not it was romantic seems kind of secondary to me, I just want Judai to be happy :(
Also in Season 4, in the Battle Royale Duel with Judai against Fujiwara, they Trolled Fujiwara making he believe he found the Darkness in Johan’s heart and making fight Johan Against Judai. But when Johan activates a Trap that makes his Monster gain ATK equal to the Damage he took from a Card effect (wich was by the Card “Damage Interest, wich doubles the Damage you took from a battle), they start to laugh and Johan reverses his attack back to Fujiwara. For me, this is one of the best moments in Season 4 of Gx
That scene trolled me because I was actually worried there for a minute. XD
This is why GX is my favorite Yugioh series. The character writting is *chefs kiss* beautiful
12:27
In the Japanese language, the word 'love' used here (好き) has varying levels of love, and has broad applications to express likeness/love . In Japan, it's not uncommon to say it to express fondness among friends.
But Judai + Johan is a hill I'm willing to die on. Their not-so-subtle boss monster fusion is RAINBOW neos.
I think it’s probably called that because it’s made of rainbow dragon and neos. I don’t think that necessitates a particularly elaborate explanation. Now on the other hand, I think it’s fairly obvious what the existence of uforoid fighter implies.
Currently watching GX sub and I can confidently say my childhood was robbed by the dub experience (except for shmaden)
James Collett what!, Dubbed yugioh gx is truly the pinnacle of writing, just look at the Chazz
The dub is very much like an abridged series. It is definitely worth watching but it's totally reasonable to want to see the original as well.
4Kids Season 3 has a good story. But I still can't watch it in the original english because it's played like a joke. Most of the voiceacting and the phrasing of the lines is just...no. Good thing the dub of my region did it better.
@@SN27671 the Chazz is literally perfect
@@petercross1879 It's not Chazz, He is Manjoume Thunder (Sanda).
fun fact, in Norway we have a saying for when something is ludacris "det er helt texas" meaning thats just texas. surely this is just a coincidence
I love Johan and judai so much! Be it platonic or romantically together, I don't give a shit. Johan is really a wonderful character and their friendship is really awesome to watch. Judai even ended up doing the thing Johan said he dreams and will make it his goal in life to do so. "Showing and helping to bridge the relationship between humans and duel spirits"
Btw the fact that johan's va is an actual female when they can obviously find a male selyuu easily just feeds to my ship for them 😂 I know I'm sprouting nonsense for that but let me live my ship dream ok? Oh and what's with that sentence that they said at the first episode they met?
"I feel like I knew you from long ago" " me too"
And this was never mentioned again. For what is the point for them to put this line in? 😏
This just makes me believe judai and Johan were at least really best friends in their past life. Either he really was in love with him but felt responsible towards yubel thus gave yubel his love instead since yubel gave and modified their own life for judai, or they in the least are close best friend as I said. I would think I'm grabbing straws but hey yubel is the one confirming with us that indeed past lives is a thing in gx lol
I hope youre happy now melon for reviving my love for this ship once again
So...they're two halves of an Avatar? One's a reincarnated master of all elements and the other's a bridge between humans & spirits?
Johan: *shows up*
Everyone at Duel Academy: Oh my god, Judai is in love with him!
Yubel: Absolutely not!
Yuka (my OC): Johan is mine!
When 4kids makes a a guy from the NORTH have a southern accent
Would you rather he sound like a stereotypical Russian?
@@dabuff1319 because Russia is very north yes
I mean with the Eurovision movie they did a bad Icelandic accent so they have an accent ready I guess?
I always seen it as North America as a kid
He’s from north of Mexico
@@TheMNHShow i was thinking the same, it's like in GoT where the free folk call the northerners southern
"Johans dream is to bridge the gap between the duel monsters spirit world and the human world" "he wants the spirits to be safe and for humans to live in harmony with them"
.....so Johan is the avatar confirmed....
Are you talking about the "BLUE" Avatar?
@ULGROTHA not to your answer. I was talking about that description. Although Konami should make a FIRE attribute Gem Beast monster to be the Elemental Bender
Whoa that means Judai becomes Johans dream. Johan's ambition drove Judai to become the Yubel Yuki fusion. This rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper
Damn what’s your IG 💦
*looks at name*
How bad is it...?
The power of GAYNESS UNLOCKED and Judai X Johan is canon
Jesse is by far my favourite character in any yugioh series. Followed by Zane and the fact that people shit on GX baffles me. I really enjoy the series and you have made me start watching the sub to see what ive been missing :P
I was also shitting at GX and Jesse. Then I saw the sub and he quickly became my favourite character
For me it wasn't just the anime I trash on, it's the GX era as a whole. There's things that upset me: Bad Anime Archetypes (Neos, Vehicroids, Arcana Force), Geminis, DAD deck.
These anime writers were all closeted gays werent they.
I mean rainbow dragon.
This vudeo wasn't shipping propaganda but if you slap some tits on Johan call him Johanna, he becomes the Damsal to Judai's hero.
Emotional support
Love interest
Damsal dies and the hero goes ape shit.
The tropes are all there.
Jesse was the character we needed. Also, Season 3 was a *RIDE*
I owe you my entire life for this video because no one loves Jesse Anderson enough. And it makes sad. Also Spiritshipping is CANON ANYONE CAN FIGHT ME
I really wish it would be true
You actually made 20 min video about CRYSTAL BOY....
Wow.
Making Johan more manly makes the relashionship between him and Judai even more gay, which is fine by me.
Hears "equal" and "support": *Oh yes, that's the good stuff*
I loved Johan so much that i had the Rainbow Dragon/Crystal Beast deck back when synchros and XYZ began start popping. I always lost because well (the decks from GX where a lil' slower than the ones that came after...).
Anyways, i loved that deck so much that i modified it, leaving it somewhat "competitiveish" and winning a couple of duels against somewhat "renown" guys from the Yu-Gi-Oh! community in my city. I was so stubborn in changing or "updating" my deck, that people started to call me "The Crystal-boy", and it was kinda funny but i really liked being called that.
Pd: Crystal Abundance was an amazingly OP card.
How did you modified your Crystal Beast deck? I would love to make a competitive Crystal Beast deck
Alexis Pimentel I hope you have money because the best Crystal Beast decks play three copies of Crystal Bond which is a 30 dollar card.
I'm loving using the Crystal Beasts in duel links they are a lot fun
Crystal Abundance was Pendulum Summon before it was cool!! 😎😎
Crystal Bond is $3 now thanks to reprints 😘
The question is, is GX the best gay in shonen?
Did you forget hxh?
It kinda is
Literally almost every Yu-Gi-Oh! Series have gay moments
@@maskedgamerjoker6148 more or less MC x rival or MC x secondary MC
Its so nice to hear someone else talk about how Johan is the first person Judai can really lean on, I've been rambling to my friends (who really don't care but like it when I talk about things I like) on this topic for ages. Also, as a ship thing, my favourite small thing is in season 4 when Fujiwara says 'when these two are together, they can create miracles.' Like, Judai has tons of magical powers at that point, but Johan is the thing that makes them both capable of miracles. Nothing stronger than two boyfriends fighting to protect each other!
Judai: sees Koichi
Judai: oh boy free reliable guy
Yare Yare
Yes a jojo fan finally
Another wonderful moment when it comes to Judai and Johan is in season 4. After Judai escapes the exploding Kaiba Corp and is being manipulated by the dark energy. Johan to the rescue. Not only trying to make sure he’s ok after Judai literally rolls off a motorcycle that then explodes but then when Judai acting erratic demands a duel. Johan uses his cards to get through to Judai through the duel releasing what hold the dark energy had on him. Even when he isn’t perpetually around like in season 3. Our boy Johan is still there for Judai when he absolutely needs him and I just think that’s *chef’s kiss* perfection.
I think Johan (Jesse) is either from Denmark or Norway since in Sweden it would have been "Andersson" instead of "Andersen" however if we look at the story between Johan and Judai it's kinda similar to the story between Kai and Gerda from The Snow Queen (With Yubel as the Snow Queen), which is a book written by a Danish author Hans Christan "Andersen"
Also Hans Christian Andersen was gay
Jesse is getting new cards IN PRIDE MONTH (And the entire font is in rainbow)
Clearly not a coincidence
Yugioh GX said gay rights
Also: "Non-cis people _exist."_
Bless you Crystal Boi, all you wanted to do was summon crystal monsters and chill with your boyfriend.
Eh, I'm not dismissing your argument outright. But I don't think they intentionally tried to make him sound more masculine with the Texas accent. These are the people who made Amber Mammoth sound like Arnold. I think they just saw dubbing GX as another job and they did it to entertain themselves so they don't get bored lol
the dub voices for jesse and the crystal beasts are a highlight of the series, they made the right decision.
@@aidan8578 Yes! Someone else who appreciates their dubbed voices. I especially LOVE Jesse's dubbed voice. Chris did a fantastic job!
I already had some of the same thoughts about Johan, but you've given me an even bigger appreciation for his character. I really wish him and some other characters had more to do in season 4.
Important development (Gets buffed while posessed)
Unless it's like a Ned Flanders thing, where he always was but his clothes somehow hid it
@@princedevitt1581 *its like im wearing nothing at all* (nothing at all echoes for the rest of the scene)
@@princedevitt1581 The frilly blouse he wears hides those muscles well...
Maybe the reason his other friends images broke was because he saw them die in real time? While Johan is a speculation, so he has to make sure. He probably skipped some grieving steps with the others and went straight to acceptance, but with Johan he can cling to the hope of his most reliable guy to stay alive.
I think the same
Dunno how you feel but johan is one the most beautifuly drawn characters in the whole yugioh anime - and he s quite hot too I can’t blame judai😂
IT HAS ARRIVED! PRAISE CRYSTAL BOY!
All I’m saying is she would really loves Digimon Tammers
I'd be shocked if she hasn't seen it already given how much she gushes over GX's character development
but there is nothing gay in Tamers so who knows.
Idk if anyone has mentioned how entertaining your editing is yet 😭
19:09 "country" damn right, greatest country in the USofA
Am I the only one who thinks Johan was the best character of GX?
...Besides Judia of course.
19:08 "one of the most conservative countries in America" As a Texan I must express discontent. We're a state, not a country within the country lol.
I think they meant to say "county" and flubbed, lol.
America is also the name of both continents in the west if you've gotten my friend, our technical name is "The United States" we only refer to it as such because no one wants to be called a 'United Statesian'
I wish more people didn't just brush off Johan as Judai's boyfriend, and actually gave him the proper respect he deserves. I swear people just see Johan and be like "Omg blue Judai !!! They'er the same aha now kiss !!" Like- I get it if you ship them, I do too, but there's more to them then just that smh.
I reapect Yohan, and the shipping propaganda (Give Judai a boyfriend!), but what I am concerned is about the anti Sho propaganda. Sho is a good boy that deals with a lot, most of it relates to his brother. He may not be Judai's best friend, but he's his first friend, and one of the most important.
Also, he actually evolves. Yohan makes Judai evolve, but he himself doesn't change much. Sho actually goes through a lot in the show, at least relatively to a side character. The worst you could say is that his arc is just Yugi's arc all over again, but I'd argue that Sho's journey has much more valleys than Yugi's...
9:46
Oh, I didn't know that there were two versions of the third opening! :O
It's amazing that they changed the scene, it's like a little spoiler, but people don't notice at the beginning, because it's a well hidden scene. A secret spoiler scene ... :O
Three versions actually.
Little fun fact Gem-Knights could be a reference or homage to Johan and Judais Frienship the Gem-Knight Fusion looks very similar to a Crystal beast card i forgot the name of (maybe Crystal Abundance but i honestly don't remember im sorry) and the wonder fusion that supports HERO fusions
nah we don't need to have quick videos. these whole character dedicated vids are awesome
Being someone who grew up on the Dub and even though Syrus was like "THEY'RE TWINS", I knew something gay was happening there. Even though I grew up in a tiny minded village, I knew if one of them was a girl, they would've kissed by now. So even though I haven't given the original sub a watch yet (I've seen clips and I watched Season 4, but that was it), it's really great that theory/analysis videos like this exist so I can get a broader idea about what actually happened in the original subtitles while the Dub were all like "Yubel wants revenge on Jaden for shooting **her** into space and *she's* doing everything to get revenge on Jaden for that". Thank you for all your hard work!
Their relationship is basically Shinji and Kaworu Nagisa. Both are people they admire and showed them what it means to be treated as equals.
Nah.
Funnily enough, GX has a lot in common with EVA, from the two main girls being called Asuka and Rei, to the plot of Season 4.
So... is it Yugioh GayX?
Yugioh European
I see GX in a whole nother light now. This video is a masterpiece. Thank you for taking the time and actually making me appreciate it more than I already did (it was already my favorite).
I can never get enough of your GX videos!
These characters were a major part of my gay awakening and I will always love them for that
OH YEAAH, JESSE FROM TEAM ROCKET.
oh wait-
I really didn't get Johan and Judai's relationship in the dub and this was very eye opening thanks! (Also now I love them)
20:00 no matter how hard 4kids tries, the power of the YuGiOh gay will always shine through!
While the chemistry for both Johan and Judai are great at S3, S4 barely had them interact each other, which is kinda odd to me
They not only had a different writer for S4 but were forced to cut the season short, so I think they just did the best they could at that point
I kind of like that though, Judai distances himself from everyone because of what happens in Season 3 and when Judai duels Truman and then realises it’s Johan it’s genuinely quite emotional. Plus that triangle duel near the end is amazing and it’s like the only time I remember Judai laughing in season 4, which I just think shows Johans impact on him.
@@benny_boy19 Their tag duel in season 4 was amazing because they actually fooled me at first and made me believe that Johan was starting to get taken over, but they were just play acting. To be able to pull that off showed some great communication and teamwork on Judai and Johan's part.
I feel like they wrote themselves into a hole in season 4 with Johan though. Because they needed to cut him out so Alexis could be the one to bring Judai back around to enjoying duels
I want your tea on whether or not Yubel was originally a boy. I feel its PAINFULLY obvious that they were and it would make more sense that Yubel would feel threatened by Johan's relationship with Judai if they knew a romantic relationship between men wasn't out of the question. Bc otherwise Yubel should also go on a murder spree against Rei and Asuka for having blatant crushes on Jaden but nope. Its a sus detail, especially when Yubel only possesses boys because surprise, they feel more akin to them because they WERE one.
Also also, the odd similarities between Johan and human Yubel. (Blue hair and green eyes albiet different shades, young voice, both of them saying straight up they'd do anything/die for Judai and that weird crystal on Yubel's head maybe being a nudge to the Crystal Beasts?) It's almost like Jaden is destined to be entertwined with this particular soul.
Its as if in a perfect life without the need for chaos and this Light Dark shenanigans, Johan is the idealised version of Yubel because he gets to be happy with Judai without any need for tragedy between them. It could also be another subtle reason as to why Yubel possessed him, because they think its unfair and by doing this, Judai and Johan's idealised relationship can be ruined like Yubel's.
There is no single scene where Yubel is angry that other people like Judai though. All their statements have been about how Johan makes Judai feel differently and questioning if Judai loves Johan instead of them. Canon only shows that Yubel hates it when Judai likes other people, not the other way around. So Yubel not going on a murder spree on Rei and Asuka just proves that Judai isn't interested in them.
@@srehh5529 I guess thats true, but I wouldnt put it past Yubel to get jealous and spiteful if other peolle do like Judai (without him liking them back) since they were sending people he merely played with into comas left and right when he was a kid. They were threatened by literally everyone.
Honestly, it is kinda funny to me how the writers made Yubel interact with Rei to begin with(Even if it was just because of Martin). She has no real relevance to the plot, she's just kinda there.
No matter how we examine their bond, it’s very obvious that Johan is just more considerate of Judai’s feelings than all of his peers. Of all of Judai’s supporting cast, I only ever liked Johan, Monjoume, Misawa, O’Brien, Jim and I guess Asuka. Tenzan and Sho could disappear from the story and I wouldn’t notice
I can see why a lot of people ship these two super hard, romance usually occurs when two people that enjoy each other’s company has to interact for a prolonged period of time. Of course that’s also how good friendships comes to be but i think the way the writers constructed the characters dialogue in relation to Johan, specially Judai’s dialogue to give weird feelers that there might be something more than just friendship while leaving it cloudy enough to be pass as friendship for the people who dont see it that way makes me believe it was intentional. The way I see it, the guy who wrote it knew damn well what he was doing, he knew there was a market for this kind of “BFF shipping” so he wrote it pink like that. :v
ULGROTHA nah, that wouldn’t be pg 13, you keep things like romance for the end of the series just in case people get mad, or you make it as exaggerated and childish as possible so people just glance over it.
Romantic love is a theme of season 3 in the Japanese version. Yubel is in love with Judai, and wants to get back together. Yubel also describes Johan as "the boy who took Judai's love away from me", which certainly implies they see him as a romantic rival at the very least.
1dbad like i said: if there’s romance its is exaggerated to the point of absurdity to be shared to a younger audience.
I guaranteed if yubel wasn’t so hyper in her delivery the writers would have to change yubel’s dialogue to keep it pg13.
@@TheGaboefects Even Japanese shows for kids tend to have subtext. Yubel is non-binary in the Japanese version, and even alternates between a male and female voice actor when speaking. It's also implied Yubel was a male in their past life, yet that didn't stop Judai from confessing his never ending love to them. I feel like him possibly having feelings for Johan too isn't that far fetched given that.
1dbad I didn’t say it was extremely far fetch, i said in this case it had to be kept nebulous enough so it could be interpreted in many ways, two young characters showcasing serious romantic intentions is something that does not happen often in media targeted to kids. Usually is so childish or over the top it tends to be look over.
And while i agree that they decided to give yubel a male and female voice to be paired with her androgynous body i dont think it was meant to be read as “Hey lets give it a male and female voice and make it an hermaphrodite” but rather “This is a monster card, why don’t we give it two different voices to accentuate how creepy it is?”
Crystal Boi. Uses one of my favorite decks from GX.
The importance of Jesse? Everything about him screams GAY, thats why he is important
Johan: I want to be the brisge between humans and spirits.
Me: so........ Your like a Yugioh avatar then?
Yubel x Jaden or Jaden x Johan
Both?
Both
We want both
Both
Damn, from the start I loved Jesse as a character and respected him but after this video
I think he's one of the most important and good characters in the entire yugioh
18:02- 18:04 "judai"... Aaaa
tHeY wErE RoOmMaTeS!!!
Amazing video as always, I love your character analysis and editing is top notch.
I am now praying to Armityle that you will finish off the GX character analysis with Yubel (my favourite character of all Yu-Gi-Oh! anime).
Also, a bit of a shame that you didn't touch upon Juudai's and Johan's relationship in season 4. Because, it's clear Juudai doesn't depend on him as he did before...... and YET who would come to save Juudai from Trueman's influence than our favourite Crystal Boy (seriously, why the hell was he in Domino City? at that precise time??)
@ULGROTHA you're right, I forgot about that!
Yeah Yugioh is a kids show that lets kids save the world with a kid's card game and its obvious that the reason for dueling is basically a reason to live, but I still god damn love this show and without Johan Judai would never have been in my opinion the best yugioh protagonist. Plus their story is done well because they didnt make a whole thing about gender it could be understood in any way if some people want to think its a romantic love or just a love between friends its about love in the end and people needing each other meanwhile modern shows try to force it down your throat while this made it about it without beating you over the head with it
The fact that Judai was about to fall to the Darkness, when almost everyone in the world already had and he was the last hope, Johan appears and saves him. Johan isn't a main protagonist and he was one of the 3 people on the wolrd that didn't lose to the Darkness. They quite literally had to off screen him cause they didn't want him to be there for Judai during the last duel lol
Ok, I'm just gonna put this out there. In basically every Yugioh series at some point the love interest is kidnapped and the hero has to go on a quest where they are put in life and death battles in order to rescue them. Tea, Akiza, Tori, Zuzu, they all get kidnapped at some point in time. This doesn't happen to Alexis. (For a prolonged period of time. She's basically captured for one duel) No, in GX is Johan.
Also, the boy has a giant rainbow dragon. Like, they weren't being subtle here.
At least in _this_ show's case, the alleged love interest was only in jeopardy in another dimension and separated from all they knew for _half_ a season, as opposed to most of the show with zero substantive emotional follow-up when they _finally_ reunite.
...gods I hate what Arc-V became...
ITS MY BOY!! i love this blue haired boy!!! he good boy and kinda want a small spinoff of him just to see his adventures cause i love this boy.
Country boooyyy, I love u 🤪
Also as a gay living in texas, its getting better on the not being so closed minded but then again i like an hour away from Austin.
Cobra: right now you have nothing to support you
Johan: say that to my face! Ya limp noodle!
I wheezed
Idk about the dub, but in the Japanese Version, Edo is ranked 4th by Pegasus Crawford, above Johan.
So she made a mistake
yeees johan getting the love he deserves
I love the dynamic between these two. I wish we got to see more of Johan. ❤
I've never seen such in-depth analysis videos of characters from Yu-Gi-Oh GX. As someone whos favorite series was GX and favorite characters being Judai, Johan and Yubel, consider me very happy to have stumbled upon this video tonight. Also your use of memes are just perfect.
I ship it
18:02 no need to thank me
i appreciate johan so much more , i watched the dub and they did do him dirty.