what she says: yeah i love yugioh lol it’s so silly
what she means: in this paper i will discuss yugioh’s themes of power, cooperation, and friendship, as represented by characters seto kaiba, yuugi mutou, and jounouchi katsuya, in the context of clifford geertz’ theory of symbolic play. for each character, and each theme they represent, the card games are elevated to deep symbolic and psychological function by the character’s relationship to the game. in his seminal work ‘deep play: notes on a balinese cockfight,’ geertz argues that the balinese cockfight serves a symbolic function that elevates this sport above mundane entertainment. As he describes it, “Its function… is interpretive: it is a Balinese reading of Balinese experience; a story they tell themselves about themselves” (Geertz, 10, 1972). nowhere greater is this theory expressed than in series deuteragonist seto kaiba, whose relationship to duel monsters and his preferred card (the notably powerful light monster, the blue-eyes white dragon) is inextricably tied to his attempts to overcome his childhood trauma. beginning with his first duel,
