Fairy Tale Allusions in Yugioh 5Ds

So I was rewatching 5Ds and Akiza's duel against the knight dude got me thinking about the fairy tale allusions in her design and arc, and thinking about it more got me to realize that 5Ds actually has a lot of loose fairy tale allusions throughout it. So here are just a couple of the ones I noticed:

Akiza in general: Akiza's first duel of the series was already really heavy with the knight vs. witch symbolism. It also got me thinking about the "Princess, Witch, and Prince" theme from Revolutionary Girl Utena. A very basic rundown of what Utena says on it is that people will try to sort women into a box of good (Princess) or bad (Witch) based on how much they conform to the concept of what a girl should be like, a good Princess has to trade independence for protection from a Prince, any girl that doesn’t agree is a Witch. Problem is that no woman is ever just one of those things at a time, and Akiza definitely isn't. She is at first feared for her power, labelled the evil Black Rose Witch, and attempts to find comfort and safety in her "Prince" (Sayer). Only when she meets Yusei and the gang and finds acceptance from them and her parents do we see that she's actually a very kind girl. And even then, she doesn't go trading one Prince for another, she's never as reliant on Yusei as she was with Sayer and maintains her independence. Also just her deck in general carries the theme with fairy tale-like imagery (roses, knights, witches, fairies, and a dragon).

Akiza + Yusei: These two are basically Beauty and the Beast. I am a major faithshipping fan, but even if you take out the romantic aspects, it still fits. Yusei being Beauty and Akiza being the Beast for obvious reasons. The scene with Yusei waking Akiza in the hospital also gives major Sleeping Beauty vibes as well (this scene also owns my soul).

The rose imagery also still fits with both of them.

Yusei: He's Cinderella: he's a poor boy, goes to a ball that he wasn't supposed to go to (Neo Domino), has to leave at midnight (gets arrested), but leaves behind a "glass slipper" (the mark of the Crimson Dragon) that makes it so that the prince (Godwin) can track him down and give him another shot at freedom (not for altruistic purposes of course, but it still fits).

Jack and Carly: Scoopshipping are The Little Mermaid. The mermaid (Carly) falls in love with the prince (Jack), but for certain reasons, they cannot be together. Said mermaid makes a deal, by trading her soul, she gains legs (Dark Signer abilities + duel runner) which allows her a second chance to go after the prince. But the prince rejects her proposal (because she's undead and evil now), and the mermaid concedes. But being unable to hold up her end of the deal, she turns into sea foam and dies (turns into dust and dies).

Leo and Luna: Luna's deck already has a loose fairy forest type theme (and in the manga, has a Fairy Tale archetype). I want to say they're Hansel and Gretel. Has the same beats of two siblings getting lost in the woods (Luna with her spirit world adventure, Leo dueling Devack with "Closed Forest" up). But most of it comes from their duel with Devack, in which Hansel (Leo) stalls the witch (Devack) for as long as possible until Gretel (Luna) can kill the witch by pushing him into the oven (win the duel). You could also say that Luna's arc of freeing Ancient Fairy Dragon has elements of Rapunzel (saving the princess from the witch that locked her up).

Those are at least the ones I noticed. I doubt all of them were intentional but it's interesting when you make the connections. Let me know if there's any I missed because I'm not done with my rewatch yet and don't have anything for Crow. Feel like Team Satisfaction and Neo Domino City have Wizard of Oz parallels, but haven't got enough info to say how yet.

Since Leo and Luna’s parents are terrible, imagine Yusei doing parent stuff.

Imagine Yusei picking one of the twins up early from school because they’re sick, and him taking care of them. Imagine Yusei being there at their school events to support them. Imagine when Leo needs help with homework, Yusei helps him. Sometimes he helps Luna fix her hair. Yusei brings the kids to school when it’s raining.

Just imagine Yusei being the good parent that these twins deserve.

Yes, yes, oh my gosh, YES.

He would literally be their parent.

I actually have this headcanon that Yusei was the one who had to have the 'talk' with Luna when she first got her period, as no one else was available. Akiza was sick, and no one else could do it, so he did. Because Luna and Leo had no one to actually teach them what growing up entails, neither knew what a period was, and both thought Luna was dying, so Yusei had to be the one to help Luna. It was awkward for him as hell but he kept his cool about it.

Also Akiza is practically their babysitter. She takes them to and from school, and stays with them till it's night, and it is pretty much an obligation for them all to go to Yusei's right after school. Yusei keeps snacks that he knows the twins (and Lester/Lucciano) like. He also totally helps with his homework.

I feel like with Luna he wouldn't actually be the over protective one when it comes to boys. He trusts her and knows she can handle herself. Nope, the over protective one is Jack, 100%. He beats up any boy that looks at any of the girls (Lucciano barely gets a free pass. Very very barely.)

But yes, Yusei is very much their parent. Jack is too in his own way, and so are Akiza, Bruno, and surprisingly Placido, who is a shockingly responsible babysitter when he needs to be. Crow's the bad influence (he got fed up being the good boy for the orphan kids and so now he's in the place where he isn't the adult in the room, he will be the stupidest influence ever.)

THEY’RE ALL SO PRETTY OH MY GOSH

Crow and Yusei really missed the memo though, holy crap guys XD

Ready Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds fans for another amazing 5D’s Month? Us too! 

This year, the Mods have decided to shake things up for the 6th anniversary! 

Instead of a month of prompts, there are a week’s worth of prompts from July 7th to July 14th. Each day has 3 different prompt options to get inspiration from, use as suggestions, or completely ignore if you just want to make anything that inspires you about your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh series! However, submissions do not close at the end of that week. Submissions and posts on Instagram, twitter, and tumblr will be accepted throughout the entire month of July! 

Here’s to another year of amazing 5D’s love! 

(Banner courtesy of @daniellethecoolartist on Instagram. Please sent her a shout out, a follow, and some love for her amazing work!) 

What a loving family

Previous/ next

they're both winged pretty boys, so, do you think they'd be friends...?

.... probably not.

( ; w ; i just really liked @livvylubug's lunanardo design and wanted to draw them together... at least luna's donnie and swannie's leo could maybe bond...?)

Some that I didn't include in the last post

New Team 5D's artworks for the 15th anniversary!!

Feel free to use them!

When Leo first became LunaNardo he needed to be babysat constantly because he kept trying to do stupid things. (Stupider than usual according to donnie)

COLOUR WHEEL CHALLENGE DONE BABEYYY

(Please. Please click for better quality this took 7 1/2 hours)

Courage and Power lead to a revolution for peace! Synchro Summon! Evolve! Life Stream Dragon!

So SO excited to get to share the full spread I did for @aygozineproduction 's Dragon's Den Zine! A celebration of medieval tapestries, my favorite 5D's duel, and one of my absolute favorite yugioh dragons ✨🌈

Yes. And don't call me Leo.

YGO5DsMonth/Week 2022 Prompts!

You’ve waited patiently for a year and now here they are! This year’s 5Ds Month/Week prompts! Start planning ahead! The Mods are SO looking forward to everything you 5Ds fans have! 

Day 1/July 7th: Happy Birthday!/Best of the Best/Limelight (birthdays/favorite character/underappreciated character)

Day 2/July 8th: Cozy Treat/Celebrate!/Seasons of Change (Food/holidays/4 seasons)

Day 3/July 9th: Another You/Red Thread of the Crimson Dragon/ Different Dimensions! (AU/ shipping either romantic or platonic/ connections with other yugioh series)

Day 4/July 10th: Card Trick/ Colors of the Wind/ Red and Purple (Favorite yugioh card/ color schemes/ good vs evil)

Day 5/ July 11: Hit Shuffle/Music in the Park/ Underscore (Playlist/ Concert/ 5Ds score and openings vs endings)

Day 6/July 12: Fashion Week/ Adventure Bag/ Bling and Zing (Aesthetic/ Accessories/ Merch)

Day 7/ July 13: Mirai/ Going My Way/ Momentum (Future/ Career Day/ Hidden Skills)

Bonus day/July 14: Funny Too/Switcheroo/ Something New (memes/Changes and struggles in different stages of life/Fans can decide their own prompt!)

Childhood be like:

Mischievous Twins

fraternal boy and girl twins in media