maeda hayato
 Name kanji: 前田隼人
Age: 17
Dorm: Former Osiris Red
Deck type: Australian
Family: Maeda Kumazou (father)
Dub name: Chumley Huffington
Voice: Hasu Takehiro (Japanese), Ted Lewis (American)
Hayato meets Juudai and Shou in the beginning of his first year, although it's technically not his first -- he's repeating his first year, actually. He comes across as rather irritable, but turns out to be a decent friend once they get to know him. He's a bit of a pessimist, and doesn't have a lot of confidence in his skills as a duelist.
 Hayato is an average duelist, and his grades reflect that. His father knows this, and eventually comes to the Academy to take him home, knowing that he's flunking badly. Hayato doesn't want to leave, but only because of his new friends, so he and his father duel. Hayato puts up a decent fight, but his father eventually defeats him. When Hayato is all packed up to leave, Daitokuji enters and gives him a letter from his father, telling him that he can stay because of his friends. After this, Hayato resolves to become a better duelist so he can one day defeat his father.
 But Hayato's dream doesn't lie with dueling at all. Later in the series, he submits a card design to a contest Industrial Illusions was holding, and ends up winning. He also shows Juudai and Shou his sketchbook with a picture of Ayer's Rock in Australia, They're both very impressed by Hayato's artistic ability, but there's something more important drawing near -- the finals. It's Hayato's last chance to prove himself worthy of another year in Duel Academy, and eventually he is called to the headmaster's office to discuss his future. Because the card design he entered won the contest, Pegasus wanted to offer him a job as a card designer at Industrial Illusions. However, Chronos interrupts, saying that he can't allow a dropout boy still in the course to take the job. So a test is set up: if Hayato can win a duel against Chronos, then he will earn the job at Industrial Illusions.
 The duel begins. After a while, Hayato appears to be about to win the duel, and Chronos thinks to himself that one year ago, Hayato was a dropout boy, but now he's persevered and has creativity to spare. He would've loved to lose to him, but it would've been against the rules, so Chronos activates his face-down card and defeats Hayato in the duel. However, because he was aware of the way Hayato dueled, he eagerly recommends him for the position at Industrial Illusions. He parts ways with Juudai to begin his new job.
 Hayato returns for a short while in episode 85, in which Frantz, a man who works at Industrial Illusions, steals a copy of the Winged Dragon of Ra. Pegasus is informed of this and takes Hayato with him to get the card back. He greets Juudai eagerly... in a crushing bear hug, as a matter of fact. Juudai later ends up dueling Frantz, and eventually winning against the god's power. Hayato then leaves at the end of the episode with Pegasus once the card has been safely returned to him.
|
