A Hypothetical, Discussing Opinions on Konami

[Draconus297]

So, a weird hypothetical situation came to me the other day, and for the life of me I couldn't decide what the right option would be if said situation actually came up . . . and how Konami would handle it. Several comparisons can be drawn throughout, but I don't think that this exact situation has happened to YGO quite yet.

 

A character in the anime starts using an archetype with a rather odd gimmick, and both the character and their Deck get pretty much universal love from the fanbase, casual and competitive alike, because while the way their gimmick functions and the support the archetype has gotten make for a powerful contender in tournaments, the gimmick itself isn't something that makes casual players cry foul, and the visual design is immensely interesting. With each appearance the character has, the options their Deck has access to become even more varied and interesting, and their plotline is handled in a surprisingly mature way. On the physical card game side, the archetype has both casual and competitive fans using just about every card in the archetype between them, or even building a tiny consistency/fodder engine using important members. There's even speculation that the archetype is one monster away from being an extremely versatile Tier 1 contender . . .

 

Then, tragedy strikes. The VA has a heart attack/stroke/what have you, and dies, and the director quietly puts the character on the bench out of respect- meaning that the anime won't churn out any new members of the archetype. Worse yet, it was implied that this Duel would feature that card that would just make the archetype on its own, and the character name-dropped it for speculative purposes, but the episode ended before the Duel could even begin. Does Konami make that one card the archetype needs, pissing off fans of the anime/the VA with what will be seen as a quick cash grab, or do they leave the archetype be, leaving the Deck in an incomplete state?

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

They wouldn't retire a character because the VA died, and even if they did, I don't think anyone would be upset if the card were printed. The cards aren't the creation of the actor, so the idea that people would be outraged over it being put to print just isn't something that would happen.