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Yuma Tsukumo/Astral
This article or section needs expansion. |
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Yuma Tsukumo/Astral |
| Alternative name(s): | Keyshipping |
| Gender category: | M/M, slash |
| Fandom: | Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal |
| Canonical?: | |
| Prevalence: | Common |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
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Yuma Tsukumo/Astral, also known as Keyshipping, is the pairing between Yuma Tsukumo and Astral from Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. As of December 2024, it is one of the most popular ships in Zexal fandom, with 258 works on Ao3. [1]
Canon
As the co protagonists of Zexal, Yuma and Astral are closely connected to each other. At the start of the series, Yuma is impulsive, poor at dueling, and frequently ignores or disregards Astral's advice, while Astral is initially amnesiac and reliant on Yuma being able to successfully win the Number cards needed to restore his memories. As an alien, Astral is also ignorant of human culture and frequently expresses interest or confusion at normal Earth things like television shows, and generally acts as the more level headed and skilled at dueling member of the duo.
Over time, Yuma and Astral grow to function as a pair instead of arguing. This is emphasized by the fact that the two gain the ability to fuse into a single entity known as ZEXAL, which grants them special abilities for duels. Also notably, Astral's seeming death at the hands of Number 96 in the back half of the series causes Yuma to enter a depressive state that he only comes out of when he finds out Astral may be alive in the Astral World. This is followed by Yuma going to the Astral World and dueling Eliphas, the physical will of Astral World, to get Astral back.
The end of the series reveals that Yuma and Astral are in fact two halves of a whole, with the part that formed Yuma being originally lost when Astral fought Don Thousand many years prior to the series. Astral also admits that he loves seeing Yuma smile at the end of the series before departing back to Astral World.
Fanon
Ship Name
Keyshipping is a reference to Yuma and Astral being connected via the Emperor's Key. Yuma was given the Emperor's Key by his father as a child, and subsequently activated it and unleashed the alien entity Astral some years later. Astral, even after his introduction, can return to the pocket dimension in the Key at will. In turn, Yuma constantly wears the Key on a string around his neck and becomes upset whenever it is damaged or lost.