by Yugioh! has some really weird monsters and cards. Some cards are based on mythology, some on professions, some on science and natural phenomenon, there are endless sources for inspiration! But some are just plain weird! But, even the weirdest monsters have a story to tell. Such is the case the infamous, old-school Fairies, This Guy, that Guy, and That Other Guy. Who???… Come with me!
The Guys
I’m talking about Koitsu, Soitsu, Aitsu and Doitsu, the strange, colorful guys who fly around on paper airplanes. As the flavor text on these cards imply, these guys are mostly unreliable. Two of them are Normal Monsters, and the other two are Union Monsters that interact with their counterpart. Now, these cards were published over 20 years ago, and even back when they were first released, they were not good. But, it is not their effects that draws attention, it’s their appearance, and just outright weirdness. And, if these guys weren’t strange enough on their own, they also appear in the arts of other cards!
If their appearance wasn’t odd enough, their names are odd, too. Literally, these cards’ names translate to “This Guy,” “That Guy,” “That Other Guy,” and “Which Guy?” Linguistically, is equivalent to Eeney, Meeney, Miney, and Moe. These four guys make appearances in the art of A-Team Trap Disposal Treatment, Fossil Dig, Fossil Excavation, and the anime only card Skydiving Field/Sky Diving – Sky Drop Duel. But, who are these “Guys” exactly. Well, the answer may surprise you!
Gradius?
Wait… Gradius? How? HOW can this spacecraft be related to these weird guys? Well, if you didn’t know, Gradius is not only a Yugioh! card; before it was a card, it was a video game. Konami published the arcade game Gradius, a side-scrolling shooter, in 1985. Eleven years later, Konami released a game called Sexy Parodius, the 5th installment of the Parodius series. This Gradius parody introduced Koitsu, Soitsu, Aitsu and Doitsu. Such an obscure reference! Leave it to Konami to give us this reference.
