Yuji Kogami and Viral Dawn Link Dragon note
Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: The Fifth Circuit
by scififan599 that explores how the existence of a fifth dimension based on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS affects the story of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
"To Yuji, Den City is his home. Fighting to protect it as Kingmaker, he ends up pulled into a war between dimensions alongside the Lancers. Follow alongside him and his comrades Hanako Zaizen and Go Onizuka as they navigate the dimensions and do their best to restore peace to their world and others."
Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: The Fifth Circuit provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Shingo Sawatari. While he still has his comedic relief and Butt-Monkey status, his loss to Yuji and watching his duels actually inspires Sawatari to do better. He even incorporates Ritual Summoning into his deck after seeing Yuji use it.
- A minor case for Go Onizuka, as in canon he only uses Link Summoning with his Gouki Deck, whereas here he demonstrates knowledge of Ritual Summoning and later Synchro Summoning.
- Another case is Yuzu Hiragi, who performed a Synchro Summon in Chapter 30, which she never learned in canon.
- Not to be outdone, Yuya creates and summons Decryption Paladin, a Link Monster, against Dark Onizuka.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: A minor case with the Earthbound Deck, as Sergey Volkov uses it in his duel with Yuzu Hiragi, while in canon he used Thorn Prisoners until his duel with Barrett.
- Adaptational Heroism: In Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Ryoken Kogami served as the Big Bad of season 1 and a rival to Playmaker before performing an Enemy Mine against Lightning. In Fifth Circuit, he is the older brother of Yuji and on the heroes' team from the start.
- Birds of a Feather: Yuji and Kyosuke Kiryu get along near-instantly, as they both recognize the other has undergone a severe tragedy, specifically surviving a fire where others died, and have trouble moving past it.
- Broken Ace: Yuji Kogami is recognized as one of the strongest duelists in Den City and an excellent hacker and strategist, but is the survivor of a fire that killed 1,366 people eight years before the start of the story. This tragedy left him with memory loss of his life before the fire, nightmares of fire and screams, and an inability to connect to others or take pleasure in things.
- Combat Pragmatist: Tsukikage, as expected of a ninja, showcases this trait in Chapter 33 where in his and Yuji's duel with Security, he disables the Action Field randomizer so that he knows which Action Cards are on the field and where each Action Card is located.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Lotten Vs. Makoto in Chapter 17. Using Gatling Ogre's effect, Lotten wins on his first turn.
- Deal with the Devil: SOL Technologies makes an arrangement with Leo Akaba for their Dimension's safety from his invasion. An arrangement he won't uphold for obvious reasons.
- Decomposite Character: Blue Maiden in Vrains is just another screen name for Aoi Zaizen, here that role is taken by Miyu Sugisaki, the Origin of the Ignis Aqua.
- Doorstopper: As of Chapter 30, the fic is over 500,000 words.
- Everyone Can See It: There are very few people in the Link Dimension who don't see the close bond between Yuji and Hanako as anything other than romantic, except for Yuji and Hanako themselves.
- Expy: Yuji Kogami (Kingmaker) and Hanako Zaizan (Nature Queen) are obviously ones to Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Yusaku Fujiki (Playmaker) and Aoi Zaizen (Blue Angel), down to both using near-identical decks.
- Genius Ditz: After dueling with him against the Obelisk Force, Yuji's impression of Yugo is that he's "a brilliant idiot."
- I Work Alone: Downplayed in Chapter 13 when Yuji and Crow break into a Security warehouse; Yuji had intended to go alone because he believed Serena and Sawatari were unsuited for a stealth mission and he needed Yuya to keep an eye on them. However, he accepts help from Crow, who knows the neighborhood and understands the seriousness of the task.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: The first few chapters spoil several things in the anime, such as what happened to Yuya's father, Yushou, Leo Akaba's goal, and the existence of Zarc and Ray.
- Legacy Character: More characters from pass series appear in the fic.
- Xyz Dimension: Anna Kozuki.
- Fusion Dimension: Sho Marufuji, Rei Saotome, Jun Manjoume, David Rabb (from the manga), and "Kaiser" Ryo Marufuji (who has been mentioned several times).
- Synchro Dimension: Kyosuke Kiryu, Aki Izayoi, Sherry LeBlanc, Saiga, Lua, Luka (who doesn't appear but is mentioned), Lotten, Uryu, Bommer, and Andre, and Toru (a character from the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's video game Over the Nexus who's a friend of Yugo and Rin).
- Lethal Joke Character: A downplayed example in Viral Dawn Link Dragon, similarly to Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. While a Link-4 with useful effects said effects only work on Level 5 or higher monsters, and in the Link Dimension, where everyone uses Link Monsters which don't have Levels, its effects are almost useless. That said, it is much more effective against the duelists of Academia and the Synchro Dimension.
- Mythology Gag:
- Much like a certain Ignis, Yuji has a habit of telling people that he is socially awkward.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Upon meeting Kaito in Chapter 21, Hanako realizes that he and she aren't that different, as they both fear failing the people who depend on them. It's this realization, and her resemblance to Ruri, that convinces Kaito to work with the her and the Resistance.
- Original Character: Aside from Yuji, Hanako, and original cards, such as Yuji's Viral Dawn Link Dragon, there are also several OCs.
- Xyz Dimension: Leila Thompson (who is an OC from the author's other work, Academy of Chaos).
- Synchro Dimension: Duel Chaster 667 (who was defeated by Crow after Yuji hacked Security's systems), Katsumi Ishikawa (who's the granddaughter of White Taki, the Chairman of the Administrative Council), and Makoto Tanaka (a stereotypical Tops).
- Fusion Dimension: Joseph, one of Academia's top ten duelists.
- Outside-Context Problem: The Link Dimension is this as a whole. Based on everything Leo Akaba knows there should only be four dimensions (Standard, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz). So the existence of a fifth dimension with an unknown summoning method throws everyone for a loop, especially since there were only four Natural Energy Cards Leo created and Link Monsters weren't around when Zarc destroyed the Original Dimension.
- Past-Life Memories: Leo Akaba believes that, based on how similar their avatars in LINK VRAINS are to Zarc and Ray, both Yuji and Hanako have access to Zarc and Ray's memories.
- Pragmatic Hero: In contrast to Yuya, who tries to reach out to his opponents to connect with them and entertain the audience, Yuji is more goal-oriented and cares little for entertainment.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Yuji offers a succinct and apathetic one to Serena and Sawatari in Chapter 14 after they inadvertently get them, Yuya, Crow, and Shinji arrested. Sawatari is unaffected but Serena is noticeably hurt.Yuji: The two of you already proved you care more about your own impulses and egos than you do about the team. You've proven your pride matters more than the mission. Any lecture from me would be pointless. You're not going to learn; you're both too stubborn for that. The rest of us will just have to adapt.
- Running Gag:
- Ever since their first meeting, Sawatari has a habit of calling Yuji a "socially awkward hoodlum."
- The Stations of the Canon: So far most of the canon events of ARC-V have taken place, with duels that happened in the show being glossed over, such as Yuya vs Reji after the Battle Royal or Shun vs Dennis during the Friendship Cup. The only exception so far is Yuzu's duel against Sergey Volkov, where he uses his Earthbound Deck and Yuzu shows off she's mastered Synchro Summoning, though it still ends the same way it did in canon.
- Superpowered Evil Side: As shown in Chapter 34, Yuji has one just like Yuya, Yuri, Yugo and Yuto, in this case triggered by Abelard rubbing Yuri's victory over Hanako in his face, leading him to summon the Link-5 Primal Dawn Link Dragon (which is in of itself the Evil Counterpart to Viral Dawn Link Dragon) and curb stomp him.
- Took a Level in Badass: Through contact with the other dimensions, Yuji, Go, Ryoken, and Hanako add new summoning methods to their Decks.
- Yuji adds Fusion Summoning in Cyberse Clock Dragon and later Synchro Summoning in Cyberse Quantum Dragon. and then Xyz Summoning in Cyberse Tachyon Dragon.
- Go learns Synchro Summoning in Gouki The Champion Ogre.
- Hanako shows she has mastered Xyz Summoning, using Trickstar Band Lavender Drums against Yuri.
- Ryoken gains access to Fusion Summoning with Borreload Furious Dragon.
- Worthy Opponent: Yuri declares Hanako the best opponent he's ever had (save "Kaiser" Ryo Marufuji) when they duel in Chapter 22, acknowledging her strength after she shows off Link, Ritual, and Xyz Summoning, negates Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's effect, and nearly defeats him.
