Jonouchi Rocks

die-einzelganger:

Seto Kaiba Appreciation Photo Post #19: Kaiba devastated

Kaiba had a very rough history. His mother died when he was five. His father died when he was eight, and soon enough, he and his three-year-old little brother were dumped off at an orphanage. Orphans in Japan have a very low status — it is hard to get adopted because of the social stigma this state carries with it. Kaiba was “lucky” to have impressed and bullied a rich businessman into adoption, but, according to the manga, this led to years of being under Gozaburo’s thumb where every day was constant torture. Make of that what you will. In the end, you had a monster who built an extensive death trap for his opponent, endangering his family and friends and nearly killing all of them.

He was then mind crushed. His soul was taken twice (once by Pegasus, once by the Orichalcos). He had been turned to stone in the Virtual World. He was humiliated in front of millions when he lost to the Pharaoh on top of Alcatraz.

But I digress. Here are some iconic moments of Seto Kaiba being devastated at some of the lowest points of his life in the anime.

The last image is particularly interesting. Look close, magnify it if you have to. The bottom line of each eye is disrupted by a few seemingly white spaces. Kaiba’s expression is tense, and if you look at the moisture on his face, it isn’t drawn, or placed on the side like sweat: it’s small beads placed in two straight lines leading from his eyes.

Kaiba is crying on top of Alcatraz, feeling as though his whole life had gone to waste.