"Let's Do This! Rush Duel!"
Air Date: 4 April 2020 (JP)
Yuga Ohdo is an eleven-year-old student of Goha 7th Elementary, who aspires to change the currently rigid and restricting Dueling World with his invention, dubbed "Roads". Failing to hack into the Goha network once again, he finds himself a single penalty away from an account ban. After being reprimanded by Gakuto Sogetsu, he is confronted by the self-proclaimed number one duelist of Goha 7th Elementary, Tatsuhisa "Luke" Kamijo, who tells him of a way to implement his "Road".
Supposedly, when the full moon arises, a mysterious duelist will illuminate the path to becoming the King of Duels. Though not entirely interested at the prospect, Yuga accompanies Luke to a stone monument underground, whereupon they meet the duelist of interest in the form of a hologram. Despite prior victories, Luke had only accumulated penalty after penalty, until he was permanently banned. Deciding to place his bet on Yuga to implement his system, the two race against the time limit of six minutes and sixty-six seconds.
Gakuto, who had earlier called Yuga to a meeting for his transgressions, finds the duo and inadvertently becomes at risk of being penalized himself. Romin Kirishima, the local school idol, also appears due to practicing guitar nearby, and joins the group out of interest. Though Luke attempted to stall for time via his power, and Gakuto managing to power Yuga's Duel Disk, it becomes evidently clear there is not enough time to install the "Road". Romin, however, suggests Real-Time Duel Programming, a method used by Goha to implement new updates.
Deciding to take a risk, Yuga duels to Hologram Man with his "Road", Rush Duel, only to struggle against this mysterious duelist when he summons the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which nearly brings the match to a close. However, thanks to the new ruleset brought-upon by Rush Duel, Yuga manages to make a comeback with his Ace Monster, Sevens Road Magician, which defeats Blue-Eyes White Dragon with its ability, powering up and bringing the Hologram Man's Life Points to 0.
Now without the threat of being penalized, the group celebrates while Romin takes a picture of the aftermath, with every Duel Disk across the world converting to the new format, taking the shapes of sevens. Suddenly, the stone monument opens a brightened path into the future, with all four looking upon it in awe. With this victory in hand, Yuga and Luke find themselves truly on the Road to becoming the King of Duels.
Tropes:
- Big Brother Is Watching: One of Yuga's main issues lies with Goha's obstructive methods in maintaining control, where one cannot even trade cards without official supervision by Goha members.
- The Bus Came Back: Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise's anime series for the first time since GX, albeit with a different appearance.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with the main cast staring at a mysterious gateway opened after Yuga's win, with the entire world now being converted to the new "Rush Duel" format.
- Comical Overreacting: Gakuto becomes panicked at the thought of Yuga tampering with his Duel Disk and later being out trying to implement his "Road", but it's justified as one more would permanently ban Yuga from dueling and if he failed Gakuto himself would be punished simply for being there.
- Contrived Coincidence: Romin stumbles onto the group due to the area being where she practices guitar, though it is evident she is far more informed given her knowledge on Real-Time Duel Programming, and that she has her eyes on Yuga.
- Dawn of an Era: With the implementation of "Rush Duel", the entire world has shifted format and Yuga's quest to destroy the stagnant Dueling World has begun in full.
- Dream Intro: The show starts with Yuga piloting a giant mecha getting ready to duel for the title of "King of Duels"... only to awaken and smash his head on a light.
- Duels Decide Everything: In order to get his new rules accepted, Yuga has to win a "Rush Duel" against the Hologram Man, who learns the new rules on the spot and has a powerful deck. When Yuga wins, his changes are disseminated to every Goha Duel Disk immediately.
- Dull Surprise: Romin showcases a lack of shock toward the moves in the "Rush Duel" despite the sheer contrast between it and the normal rule set. Justified, as she has no experience with Duel Monsters personally and lacks a reference point to contrast with.
- Establishing Character Moment: An entire episode's worth for the main four characters:
- Yuga is shown dreaming of piloting a giant mech only to smash his head into an overhanging light, showcasing his jovial nature and his desire to make his dreams come true.
- Luke enters the show firmly stating his position as the number one student in the school, showcasing his self-confident, Chuunibyou nature and revealing himself to be a skilled duelist.
- Gakuto chastises Yuga for his penalties and enters a period of shock upon realizing Yuga was tempering with his Duel Disk, showcasing his Large Ham tendencies and his responsible character.
- Romin finds herself staring at Yuga and later taking his picture in secret, setting in stone her character as a Mysterious Waif.
- Everyone Meets Everyone: Though all are students at Goha 7th Elementary, the event at the stone monument marks the first time they decide to truly interact with one another on a personal level.
- Fake Action Prologue: The story starts off with a great duel only for it to be a dream. See Dream Intro for more.
- For Happiness: Yuga wants to make his latest invention, "Rush Duel", a reality, so that everyone can freely enjoy duels in a society where a MegaCorp dictates both its way of life and Duel Monsters.
- Graceful Loser: Hologram Man compliments Yuga on his victory and successful installation of "Rush Duel", and opens up a new pathway for him so he can begin his journey to become the "King of Duels".
- Hamster-Wheel Power: Gakuto quickly powers Yuga's Duel Disk with the latter's Duel Bicycle out of fear of getting a penalty, allowing him to duel the Hologram Man.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Despite Luke defeating the Hologram Man in the past, he simply got a penalty for his troubles due, leading to him becoming interested in Yuga's "Rush Duels" as he believes the urban legend implies another method is required for victory to be achieved.
- Inciting Incident: Luke inviting Yuga to challenge the Hologram Man starts off the group's attempt to popularize the new method.
- I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before: Both Luke and Gakuto are completely caught off-guard by the nature of "Rush Duel", being surprised by the ability to normal summon multiple times per turn and how easy it was to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: The mysterious hologram warns that failure will not only lead to a penalty for Yuga, but for everyone nearby.
- Inverted at the end where the Hologram Man rewards Yuga with not only the implementation of his "Road", but also frees up both his and Luke's penalties.
- The Magic Poker Equation: To raise Sevens Road Magician's ATK high enough to win immediately, Yuga has to top deck a Light-attribute monster with Sevens Road's effect. Naturally, he lucks out and does just that.
- Mood Whiplash: Luke manages to short circuit one of Goha's robots, but is then left hanging before he could explain.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Luke notes that he did defeat the Hologram Man in the past, but all he got was a penalty for victory.
- Oh, Crap!: Initially, Yuga becomes awestruck at how incredible his dueling format is going, only for him to panic upon realizing that his entire field was wiped and he was open for Blue-Eyes to attack him directly.
- One-Hit Kill: Yuga finishes off Hologram Man within a single turn and depletes all 4000 of his LP, destroying the 3000 ATK Blue-Eyes with the 7000 ATK Sevens Road Magician.
- Premiere: The first episode of the sixth spin-off of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime franchise.
- Race Against the Clock: Yuga has 6 minutes and 66 seconds to defeat Hologram Man and successfully install his latest Road (i.e. "Rush Duel"), before he incurs a sixth penalty and gets his account banned.
- Stalker without a Crush: Romin throughout the episode takes notice of Yuga and takes his picture multiple times to the notice of Luke, with the reason left unstated.
- Take Up My Sword: Nonlethal example. Luke has already been banned after causing six separate penalties, which causes him to recruit Yuga to duel the Hologram Man in his place.
- To Be a Master: The urban legend states that those who find the mysterious duelist will become the "King of Duels", a concept which despite Yuga's claims captivates both him and Luke.
- Urban Legends: The Hologram Man is a rumored being that appears at a hidden monument where one can become the "King of Duels" upon victory. However, such a win can only be confirmed if one "illuminates a hidden path", which Yuga interprets as playing a different rule set.
