Yu-Gay-Oh! (w/ Jake Carlin)

Gay for Play: A Video Game Podcast

With the recent tragic passing of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" series creator, Kazuki Takahashi, this week we reflect on the legacy of his iconic franchise, from its manga origins to what is now one of the most popular trading card games & multimedia franchises on the planet.
"Yu-Gi-Oh!" tells the story of Yugi Motoh, a timid, kind, young gamer with an iconic spiky hairdo who becomes possessed by the vengeful spirit of an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, who becomes Yugi's alter ego as he battles his opponents in Duel Monsters, a card game that went on to inspire the real-life TCG we know as "Yu-Gi-Oh!" today.
On this episode, we're joined by our friend, pro-duelist, and all-around YGO-aficionado Jake Carlin (@RubyQuartzVsr) to discuss the BREADTH of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s queer content. From it's queer origins & punk/leather aesthetic inspirations, to its themes of identity & self-acceptance, it's wide range of queer-coded characters, and just generally why it is soooo LGBTQ vibes to duel someone in a heated card game with giant holographic monsters (+ how Seto Kaiba advances the course of human technology by decades just because he is obsessed with dueling his Egyptian pharaoh bf.) Jake also tells us about the queer Yu-Gi-Oh! gaming community today; duelists around the world still bound together by the Heart of the Cards.
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CREDITS
Intro and outro music by Connor Marsh (@connorjmarshmallow)
Show art by Benny Kessler (@retro.spectacle.studio)
Special thanks to our patrons: Blueberri Mary, Elijah Punzal, Trevor McTavish & Martha Turner <3
MUSIC THIS WEEK:
"Yu-Gi-Oh! Theme" - composed by Wayne Sharpe
"Morning Duel 2" from Yu-Gi-Oh!: Nightmare Troubadour - composed by Tsutomu Watanabe, Maki Kirioka, Toshihisa Furusawa, Naomitsu Ariyama