Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Zexal

I've always been a big fan of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series. Each iteration managed to improve upon it's predecessors, while still keeping things "fresh". Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's pushed the envelope with its outrageous concept (Riding Duels) and it succeeded. Coupled with strong characters and a great storyline, 5D's is easily my favourite of the series. It taught me to not judge a book by its cover, so I kept an open mind towards Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. While Zexal does manage to have many good things going for it, it completely disregards what has continually improved in each series: characters.

{Story} - [7/10]
The story of ... Zexal is reminiscent of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in that the main character (in this case Yuma) must help restore the memories of his partner (Astral). It worked well for DM, and they improved on it by adding a twist that involved dueling other people who have cards known as "Numbers". Of course, there are other people trying to get the "Numbers" for some reason, and that adds to the depth of the story. The problem lies with how the story is told. Zexal's demographic is clearly geared much more to younger children than the other series, and it hurts the story a little bit. It becomes hard to take the plot seriously at times, but this does die down a bit as it progresses.

{Art} - [8/10]
Zexal has great art. The characters—though slightly silly—are unique and do actually look good. As always, the monsters are the highlight of Yu-Gi-Oh! animation. The new thing they did with 3D-ish monsters in 5D's returns in Zexal, but vastly improved. In 5D's I thought it looked silly and clunky—not fitting in with the art-style. I think they realized this and made many improvements. Now it actually looks like the two belong together.

{Sound} - [9/10]
I always thought that it was very surprising for the Yu-Gi-Oh! series to have a great sound score. The music fits the mood well, and it's all very catchy.

{Characters} - [4/10]
Here is where Zexal goes wrong. Usually the main character of the YGO series is a good (or at least an experienced) duelist—Yuma is not. It's an interesting route to take, but it does kind of hurt the story a bit. However, the real problem is the group of characters Yuma normally hangs out with. They're what I would call "passengers"; they're just there for the sake of being there, and they do not add anything whatsoever. In some cases it's okay to have a few, but there are FIVE of them. That's simply overkill, especially when they don't even duel once in awhile. With Yuma being the only one amongst them to duel regularly, it makes the duels boring and predictable like an episode of Power Rangers. The story would've been much smoother if it was just Yuma, Kotori, and maybe another duelist to fill the void (not Tokonosuke, he's THE worst character I've ever seen in any anime). The supporting cast is easily the worst of all the YGO series. It's like they took everything bad about DM's supporting cast, and enhanced those traits (as well as adding another character). It's a huge disappointment considering that 5D's nailed it. I would assume part of the reason it's like this is again because of the younger audience. Luckily, there are some good characters who happen to be Yuma's rivals and/or enemies (ex. Shark). Without them, this would probably be completely unwatchable.

{Conclusion}
I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, and that's the main reason why I still continue to watch Zexal. There are definitely some enjoyable things to see, but the question is whether or not you're willing to watch through the agonizing parts to get there. If the characters and childish tone doesn't bother you, then you may end up liking Zexal. Final score - 6/10

Do I honestly think ZeXal deserves a 10/10? Not really (8 or 9 but not a perfect 10) but I wanted to offset some of the lower reviews, even just by a little.

I only watched the original Japanese version of Zexal, so I cannot comment on the dub other than Yuma's voice is horrendous.

Zexal has a really slow start, by that I mean really, you could skip episodes 3-9 and not really miss out on anything. And when I first started Zexal, Yuma was not my cup of tea. However, Yuma's growth in Zexal I is incredible. I find it a little unfair ... that people criticize Yuma for being childish when he's a thirteen year old boy. He just wanted to play card games and is dragged into harsh game of circumstances far beyond his control.

Zexal is my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! series to date (followed by Arc-V>5D's>DM=GX) and Zexal does have it's faults. The plot is slow to start and some of the characters suffer a lack of character development but for the most part, the characters grow. Yuma begins to change, to grow, in more obvious ways at about episode 40. Astral constantly grows, changing and allowing his character to take shape along with Yuma's decisions. Shark really tastes the character development and Kaito grows so much in zexal I that I truly believe you cannot compare him in the beginning of zexal I to the end of zexal I. I mean, Kaito has taken the spot of my favourite anime character ever and did I think when I started watching zexal that I would love him that much?

While some episodes lack the refinement of others, Zexal is undeniably beautiful. The characters in zexal range from mind-blowingly gorgeous to adorable. (Seriously, Astral is gorgeous.) The art in zexal stands above with memorable character designs (almost everyone in zexal looks incredibly different, if I showed people pictures of the main cast I'm positive they wouldn't confuse any of them for each other.)

The Sound is also just wonderful. You start to notice the most incredible things when you watch episodes over again and listen to the sounds of the show. For example, if you listen carefully while Kaito summons his powered up Ace-Monster, you can hear Haruto's Theme. It's just... zexal has such memorable songs that I can pick up notes of sounds in the show and hum them at a whim.

I also find some of the reasons people hate zexal to be somewhat petty and marinated in nostalgia. Yuma doesn't use Hope anymore than Yusei uses Stardust or Yugi uses Dark Magician or even Yuya using Odd-Eyes. Yuma is incompetent because he is 13 and honestly, at 18, I still don't understand all the schematics of the game. All of the protags have pulled cards out of nowhere and well... have people actually watched more than 15 episodes? Because I seriously have to wonder sometimes.

Overall, with my high enjoyment of the show, all I can really say is the zexal experience will be different for everyone. However, if you were to take anything from my review, actually try the show for yourself rather than listen to what everyone has said about zexal. Because, I used to hate zexal and thought it was crap before even giving it a chance but now that I've watched it, I absolutely love it. So seriously, rather than fall onto the "Hate-Zexal bandwagon", maybe give it a chance first then you can decide whether you hate it or not.

=Updated=

Just when everyone thought the Yugioh anime franchise was over, Kazuki Takahashi did it again. Creating another anime and manga series, proving audiences will never get tired of people playing with cards over and over again.

Despite having used Duel Monsters as a plot device in every episodes of every Yu-Gi-Oh series, Zexal still manages to be entertaining, set in a colorful futuristic city (unlike 5d's) called 'Heatland', likeable and somewhat relate-able characters, great art and okay voice acting and a decent attempt at creating a story which anyone can get into.

=Story [6]=

Basically, the story follows an happy-go-lucky energetic boy with very bad duelling ... skills who comes across an 'alien' named Astral, who's memories have been transformed into 99 'number cards', which possess numerous minor characters. Astral then helps Yuma defeat these people in order to obtain the number card and another piece of his memory.

=Character [6]=

The characters are likeable though are pretty generic. you've got the hero of he story, his sidekick and future love interest?, hero's trusty best friends, a nerd, a girl who thinks she's a cat and so on. What Zexal is lacking is a good villain, Kaito is just a attempt at cloning Seto Kaiba, the characters are pretty much the same, though Kaito just doesn't fit into the villain role.

=Art [8] and Sound [8]=

The art upgrade is very nice, the backgrounds are really impressive and the colour's used are very bright (to appeal to children I guess). The character designs are nothing special though.

The voice acting is good, again nothing special. The first OP and ED were alright, though the second OP and ED were awesome, though it's a shame they were wasted on a anime like this, where mostly the only fans they could get would be 8-12 year olds.

=Enjoyment [7]=

The enjoyment level isn't too high for this one, don't go in expecting it to be as good as the originals because it isn't. There's a lot of cliches and the story is very repeatable and predictable.

=Overall [6]=

Overall, Zexal isn't very good, it's more of a step down compared to the other three series. Though, Yu-Gi-Oh is Yu-Gi-Oh and collectable card games are collectable card games, things which will always have an audience no matter how boring they become.

Now, now, ZEXAL. The thing with ZEXAL is that if you do not dig the aesthetic, you will have a hard time watching it, especially if you want ~edge~ in your children's card games. Anyway. On with it.


Story - 6. It's a card game anime. It's pretty straightforward, really. A pokemon-esque treasure hunt, one tournament; an underlying purpose and other worlds. It's hard to rate it here because without ZEXAL II, said treasure hunt doesn't lead much anywhere.


Art - 7. ZEXAL is the prettiest YGO. Some animation is *really* wonky (episode 1 and 2 are unfortunate examples), some is vaguely bad (like the ep where ... Kaito is naked) but only in the sense that everything looks sorta chibi but sharp-faced. But then you have gems like 58 and 10 and overall relative consistency in a 73-episode show which, not bad.


Sound - 10. The OST is a thing. It's amazing. The VAs - especially the ones for the main trio - do an amazing job. OPs and EDs are stellar. OST is used tastefully. It's good.


Characters - 9. Alright, let me get one thing straight: Kotori is not a main character. The Numbers Club are not main characters. Stop treating them as if they are. Kotori is major supporting at best since she's relatively three-dimensional, but the Numbers Club are all flat and should not be used as standard for characterization judgement, as you judge a show for its real characters and not its background kids.

Ryouga was stellar, no other words for him. He develops immensely while staying true to his initial characterization and I'd sit here forever if I kept talking about him so I'll leave it at that.

Kaito and Yuuma are amazing as well, as well as their respective interactions with each other and Ryouga. Especially with Yuuma and Kaito subverting the rival/protag tropes.

Astral was good for what he was, but is clearly a matter of taste imho. Kotori did her job but could've had less screen time.


Enjoyment - 9. The fillers got in the way, but that's normal for card game anime.

Overall - 9. Not as good as ZEXAL II, but, y'know.

I jumped for joy when a new yugioh series came out XD. Yugioh zexal takes place in a futuristic world where we have robots cleaning garbage, hovercraft vehicles and motorcycles that look similar to 5D's D Wheel : 0. Ok we have a new main character - Yuuma Tsukumo who wants to become a Duel Chamlpion( or King of Games) At first yuuma dueling skills are not so good but he meets an alien or duel spirit name Astral- who has no memories and is searching for the 99 Number Cards which holds a piece of his Memories( Kioku). Certain people obtain the ... number cards and Yuuma and Astral must duel them. It appears others are searching for the fable 99 Number cards too for their own personal gain( World Domination much) XD. As Yuuma wins each duel he gets better and he gains new friends. Yugioh Fans- don't get discouraged by the way it looks because you will miss out on some awesome epic duels ever!!!! 10/10

to be completely fair, if you aren't willing to watch through the first season of zexal to get to zexal II, then this yugioh series isn't really for you. zexal tends to have a slow 'childish' start/feel to it, but trust me, this improves a whole lot.

as for zexal by itself, i would say its a decent series (trying to be unbiased here). however, there are evident problems such as yuma's companions aside from kotori, shark, astral, ect not having much development - making them unlikable or forgettable. as for yuma himself, i believe he undergoes a lot of development, starting off as ... one of the worst dueling protagonists of them all.

however, i have to give the original zexal some credit - for example, the introduction of kaito is probably one of the most serious elements of the series. in addition, a lot of character backstory is provided in the original which is only implied/not evident in II. duel carnival was interesting (imo) in a comedic aspect as well, but the final 'villain' (dr. faker) left something to be desired.

this show gets a lot of bull for not being 'serious/in depth', but like i said, if youre willing to watch this first season, you will be thoroughly pleased with zexal II. it has numerous improvement with art, character development, soundtrack, and plot depth.

td;lr i'm a HUGE fan of this series, but the beginning is pretty rocky/uninteresting for most, especially those who are long-time yugioh fans. if youre willing to get past the beginning, the end and second season are very rewarding.

Working out when you're fat and out of shape sucks. You realize how weak you actually are and you can't even put weights on the bloody bench press bar. But after a while, things change. You start to feel better: you feel energized more often, your body feels less toxic, you can actually do physical labor without collapsing within the first five minutes. It's a wonderful feeling, and it's what the Zexal experience is. The first part is pretty mediocre, with some of the better episodes keeping it from being truely bad, while the second part is pretty damn good. We're not here to talk ... about the good of Zexal though; it's time to delve into the reason why I find it hard to recommend to people.

First and formost, the story. It's basically, "YUMA HELP ME FIND THE NUMBERS TO GET MY MEMORY BACK KTNXBAI" Even when it gets to the point when Yuma and crew try to stop Tron's machinations, it's all very shallow. It's still all about collecting numbers, with a pinch of stopping the astral world's destruction on the side. Even the true antagonist sucks, as it just feels like a last minute desperation attempt to try to get some semblance of story in existence. Everything just feels empty and nothing gets explained.

The art design is pretty damn good, as expected of the Yugioh franchise. Heartland looks vibrant and futuristic with the duel disks looking at home. Seriously, I could rip a wall off a building and call it a duel disk and it would work. The D-Gazers actually are nifty and allow for holograms of cards to work anywhere with real environmental interaction. Once again, all of the characters have their own memorable look and are easily identifiable. If I posted a picture of Kaito, you would instantly know who it was, provided you watched this.

The sound design is also great, as the music really conveys the mood of a scene. From the casual tunes when watching the characters interact, to the heated soundtrack of an intense duel, Zexal nails it. Why are you reading this segment still? LISTEN TO THE SOUNDTRACK.

Here is the odd part, the characters. There are a decent amount of characters in Zexal, but they don't have any magic to them. None of them are very fleshed out nor enjoyable except for a small few. This doesn't include Yuma and his merry gang, as they're all annoying at this point in time. III, IV, and Kaito are the only characters worth anything in part one. Without talking about why, just remember that duels they are in are the more enjoyable and worthwhile ones to watch.

The whole thing is an arduous process to get through, as it's too flawed for its own good. Just watch the important plot episodes and start watching Zexal 2 because part 1 just isn't good. Luckily there's an image that's a decent guide on how to watch it. Zexal is like panning. At the start you find nothing, but eventually you'll find the gold nugget, so remember to eat your vegetables kids because Zexal 2 is one wild ride, being one of the best seasons of yugioh.

This review will be based on the original Japanese version, not the edited English version.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, the 4th series of the whole Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, was a massive disappointment compared to the previous three series. Unlike the previous three, where they were all connected chronologically. But Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal has no connection to any of the previous three series at all. So basically, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is a series on its own. It does not serve as a sequel to Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s. This series should never have existed, but unfortunately, it did came to existence. This series is a lot more childish compare to any of the previous ... three series, which made this series far less enjoyable than the previous three series. Some people thought that Zexal is a sequel, as some monsters from Duel Monsters and Duel Monsters GX were seen in episodes 15. But there is still not enough proof that this is a sequel. Fusion, Ritual, and Syncho monsters (and Tuners) were never used in this series. There were no reference to Neo Domino City either. Instead, we get a childish-looking city called Heartland. The only special type of cards they use are called Xyz.

I almost dropped the whole series of Zexal. But what kept me watching was due to the storyline. The storyline seemed decent so far, but still not the best compare to the previous three series. The plot mainly involves dimensions, revenge, and…in the case of Yuma (the main protagonist), searches for his father and collect 99 ‘‘Number(s) Cards’’ for Astral, an alien messenger from the Astral World. The first few episodes were quite boring. They were like fillers to me. Nothing really happened, just duels after duels and get some Number Cards. The pace is almost like the beginning of Duel Monsters GX, which was also quite slow. The plot seemed to be moving a bit just after about episode 20, which got interesting, and got me at least hooked a bit, and it became more interesting in the World Duel Carnival arc. If the plot isn’t good, I would’ve scored a 4 or 5 for this anime and would’ve stopped watching. The plot is the only reason why I’m looking forward to the second part of this series, ‘’Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Second’’, nothing else.

Zexal has a lot of annoying parts if anybody have noticed. Unlike the previous three series, where the plot and other things were almost unique to each other. But in Zexal, there were a lot of things that resembles the previous three series:
- The Emperor's Key that Yuma wears on his neck is a similar idea to the Millennium Puzzle that Yugi wears.
- Astral is a being who is connected to that Key, just like the Pharaoh (Atem), who had a connection with the Puzzle.
- Kaito after transforming into his duelling form looked really similar to Jack Atlas from 5D’s.
- Xyz monsters followed mostly the same summoning conditions as Sycho monsters from 5D’s.
- The World Duel Carnival where there are some implications behind the tournament reminds me of the Fortune Cup and the WRGP (World Riding Grand Prix) in 5D’s, since these tournaments all had some dark intentions behind the scenes.
- Both Astral and the Pharaoh were searching for their lost memories.
- The Xyz cards have the same background colour as the Dark Syncho cards in 5D's.
- And most obvious one, Yuma’s height is like Yugi’s; His hair style is like Yusei’s; His attitude is almost like Judai’s.
There maybe more than the ones I listed. But all these were quite annoying. It shows the laziness of the producers, who should at least try to make this another unique Yu-Gi-Oh! series. But they failed.

The animation was good. I liked the CG effects for some of the Xyz monsters. But I hated the art style for the characters and some other monster cards! It deviates completely from the art styles of the previous three series. For me, Duel Monsters and 5D’s have the best art styles. Duel Monsters GX is also good. But Zexal failed to have a decent art style. All the buildings were too colourful, and too much different colours on them. Also, some characters such as Tokunosuke and Tetsuo, don’t even look like a normal human. Not to mention Yuma’s hair looked ridiculous with the pinky colour in the middle!

The opening and ending themes in Zexal were really good. Particularly the 2nd opening and ending songs. Though I hated the 3rd opening song for some reason. The OSTs in each episode were good, but not all of them though. Some OSTs for duels were really good, as they capture the tension during the duels.

The mightiest annoyance in Zexal are the characters. I loved Yugi, Judai, and Yusei very much from the previous three series. As all of them had a great character development. Judai was a bit annoying sometimes, but in later episodes, he bacame a decent character. I was expecting Yuma to be a decent character too, but he turned out to be the worst protagonist ever! He is amateur at duelling at the start of the show, so it’s almost like everything starts on a new page. The re-explanation of how to play the card game was just annoying, Yuma’s childish behaviour was intolerable, especially during duels that were meant to be really serious. But he is not as annoying as Tokunosuke and Takashi. Both of them were really annoying and should be kicked out from the whole series! Cathy (or Cat-chan) is also quite annoying. But at least Kaito and Ryoga were very interesting characters. Both were really serious during tense situations and never acted childish at all. Kotori was a good character as well. Most of the main villains were ok, particularly Tron, as the theme of revenge comes from him.

I enjoyed this series, but not very much. The duels were ok, but somehow not as exciting to watch as the other series. Yuma vs. III is the only duel I liked so far. And the duel against one of the main villains (Dr. Faker). The plot is the only thing that made this series at least worth watching. For those who hate childish characters like in this series, then Zexal would not be the anime for you. But if you are a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! and have no bother of annoying characters, then you might like this series.

Ah, Zexal. Never have I ever seen so much heat for a spin-off than for this one. I can see why, though. A number of the first episodes are in fact filler. Perhaps people even form a false-opinion of it before going into watching it due to LittleKuriboh making fun of it in his Abridged Series.
I'd like to convince you guys that this isn't in fact a bad show.


☞ STORY: 8
Zexal brings back the plot of another being helping the main character in order to retrieve their memories. Except this time no one beyond the protagonist can see him ... (Astral), which adds in a great comedic affect.
-The problem with the story is that the plot doesn't really kick in until the Arclights come in, which isn't until around ep 30. If you get bored of some of the first episodes, just skim through them (unless Kaito is there).
-The card game factor adds a new spin with XYZ/Exceed summons, which in my opinion are better than all the other edits to the game from other seasons.

☞ ART: 8
The Zexal fandom on Tumblr gets a huge kick out of the animation quality. Sometimes it's absolutely beautiful (ex: episodes 46-48), while other times they get too lazy and just draw some squiggles and color. It's nothing to gawk at by any means, it's just really hilarious.

☞ SOUND: 9
All that needs to be said is that the OSTs are stunning and fit the moods well.

☞ CHARACTER: 7
Okay, this is arguably Zexal's weak point (for side characters at least). Tsukumo Yuma, aka the protagonist, is the youngest one of his predecessors, so obviously sometimes he can get a little... eh. But the fact that he is NOT a great duelist in the beginning is brilliant. You can actually watch him grow and makes you feel more involved in the card games.
-Now then... the problem: Yuma's friends. They have their likable moments, but most of the time they are just... there. Just imagine Bakura Ryou from season 1 of Duel Monsters... except there are five of them.
-Though on the flip-side I would give all of the main antagonists an A+. Especially Tron.

☞ ENJOYMENT: 9
After seeing all of Duel Monsters, Season 0, and half of 5Ds, it was nice to see a series be a little more lighthearted in the beginning. At first it was a guilty pleasure that I got a kick out of seeing Yuma act like an idiot sometimes.
Then the Arclights came and everything was painful yet beautiful.


So overall, I'd say DO NOT GIVE UP AFTER A FEW EPISODES. Later on it becomes truly fascinating and engrossing. Even if you don't like the card games, I would say stay for the rest of the plot.

Yu-gi-oh Zexal is my favorite from the franchise.

At first I wasen't appealed by the characters designs and ages, I didn't want a 13 years old as a main character in Yu-gi-oh, it felt awkward to me. I decided to give it a try and I was possitively surprised.
*Stroy: (8/10)
The introduction is kind of slow paced (You could honestly skip to the second arc at episode 26 and you could still catch the story) The anime get really interesting with the second arc, the main setting start to web itself and it continue to be linked until the end of the anime without being too ... repetitive.
Most duels are fun and complicated enough to feel hyped. Of course, you know it is somewhat predictable especially when it's Yuuya's duel but it's still interesting, XYZ monsters are a nice addition.
*Characters: (9/10)
Don't be fooled by the character's ages, they are suprinsingly very well developped and deep for a Yu-gi-oh serie.The personnalites of the characters are also varied. Beside Kotori, I must say i'v pretty much liked and enjoyed every characters. I don't want to spoil, but Vector is simply an amazing character, the complexity of his personnality is a delight.
*Art: (6/10)
The colors are very pretty and catchy, the futurism setting is dynamic.
The characters design is what bother me the most about this anime, the hairstyles are very weird, it seems like crystals grew on their heads. Some characters are supposed to be close to their 20s and they look like 13-14 years old, it kind of hurt my eyes and the body proportions are a mess.

Zexal is the middle stepchild of Yugioh. It’s not iconic like the original series, funny like GX, or ambitious like 5D’s, but boy, it’s trying really hard. The whole thing feels very by the numbers. It does not do anything new or interesting, it takes no risks. Yuma is an overly enthusiastic moron who loves card games but also often shows disinterest in them. The villains are stock and have little motivation. Tori is girl. There is not enough of the Best Boy, Flip. The plot was simple and unnecessarily complicated at the same time. I stopped trying to follow it not because it was ... difficult to follow, but because I just stopped caring. This was the worst Yu-GI-Oh series so far. So, of course, I will watch part two, because I hate myself and crave pain like a cartoon cereal mascot craves whatever sugary treat children are trying to keep from him.

OK, this is my very first review ever so go easy on me here.
SPOILER WARNING! I REPEAT, SPOILER WARNING!


Story: 6/10
Basically the story is about this person called Yuma, who comes across this alien called Astral who is on a mission to collect all 99 number cards. I personally think that the story isn't bad, but it's just not handled in the right way, the tone is a little to airy. And 4Kids just made it WORSE because they can't bring themselves to use the word "die".

Art: 7/10
The art is really good, but there are some times where the character faces are a bit derpy, but ... overall not bad.

Sound: 6/10
The sound was a step down in my opinion, and I just didn't enjoy it as a used to.

Characters: 2/10
THIS is where Zexal goes wrong. I'm just going to do the main characters because I don't want to go through all the characters cause I'm lazy.

Yuma: Ok, Yuma in my opinion is just bad. I get that he's not supposed to be good at dueling, but he doesn't have to be a stupid head 95% of the time. He's also a bit of a stereotype, and the only way he wins duels in my opinion is because he has a "epiphany" at the end, has Astral helping him, or via shining draw (which is just plain cheating). He has a little character development, which is a step up from Yussei, but that's all I have for Yuma.

Tori: Oh, WHYYYYYYY! I've seen all the girls in the YU-GI-OH series and minus Teá, all the girls are basically either cheerleaders for the main characters or damsels in distress. She has almost NO character development and is basically of no use. Just get rid of her.

Bronk: I don't have much to say for him. He has again, little to no character development and the only time he has a significance is when he rescues Yuma from Number 96.

Astral: Ok, Astral's one of the DECENT characters in Zexal (which is saying something here). He starts out as a alien who just want's to win, and he has a half decent reason why. Over time, he bonds with Yuma and starts to take risks a little more often. I like how he's serious, and the observations are just hilarious XD. I'll have to see if there's more the next season though.

Shark: Shark is one of my favorite characters in Zexal, and is also one of my favorite characters in the YU-GI-OH series (though near the bottom). He starts off as your stereotypical bully, and this is one of the things I wish they would fix, but moving on. He starts to help people more, and gets along pretty well with the group. He has a lot of character development, and I can't wait to see what's next.

Kite: Ehhh. That's all I can say. Kite is good in some aspects, such as rescuing his brother, but he's YU-GI-OH Zexal's failure to recreate Seto Kaiba. I don't have a lot of expectations for him, so yeah.

Hart: Hart's concept is nice, but he has very little character development. He's basically the victim, and he doesn't fight back that much in my opinion. That's really bad, because he has the ability to fight back.

Mr. Heartland: He's the one-dimensionally bad villain. I don't know what to say except either give him a reason to be evil or just dump him.

Vetrix: Vetrix is one of the good villains in the YU-GI-OH series. He has a good reason (not telling you what) and he has development too, but it's still kinda little.

Dr. Faker: YECH. GET RID OF HIM PLEASE.

Enjoyment: 3/10
I have to say this is a step down. This anime was really boring cause it was so stereotypical you could basically figure out what was gonna happen, and some of the concepts like the 99 number cards just don't hold up to scrutiny. How many number cards are we on again?

Overall: 3/10
This YU-GI-OH series is one of the worst, and I REALLY hope Zexal second is better. There was funny moments and extremely high action mashed together in a really bad way, and if they decide to patch this up it's gonna take a lotta work.

Having grown up watching 5D's and the original, as well as now being a huge fan of GX, I Really didn't expect this series to be as good as it was. I didn't like it as a child, not because I had watched it and disliked it, but because everyone around me said it was trash, and thus believed it was trash. This is where most of the criticism from zexal comes from: nostalgic kids who can't let go of 5D's, who didn't watch a single episode of Zexal (or watched the terrible 4Kids dub) and decided it was bad because it looks childish... But ... that's not how you judge a show. It's fair to dislike zexal if you have what it takes to criticize it, because I truly believe it to be a hit or miss series especially with its slow start, but don't make assumptions without watching it, and believe me, you should watch it. (reviewing zexal 1 and 2 here)

╰──➤⊱Story: 10/10⊰
I'm gonna try to get this straight without spoiling too much, but if you really want to discover everything from A to Z, you have been warned.
Zexal has the best utilized overall story of any generation. It's about a young boy who believes everyone can be better today than they will be tomorrow, and thus giving it his all in life to improve into a better, stronger person. This is his "kattobingu spirit", it basically means to never give up, because there is always a solution to any problems. And it's with this very childish, optimistic state of mind that he gets involved in the crazy plot that is zexal. He will in the first act face the conflict between the arclight family and Dr Faker, leading him to take place in the larger scale conflict between the Astral and barian world in season 2. Zexal is all about Conflict and how useless fighting is, yes, it sounds childish and overly optimistic - - that's the point. But I'll get to the themes later.
The story on itself starts slow, and it's a fair criticism that isn't neglectible. This is also one of the reasons why people gave up on zexal after watching the first 5 episodes or so, because let's face it, while the beginning isn't that horrendous on re-watch knowing everything that happens afterwards, it's really hard to get through the first time. But just as you may have already heard many times until now: it gets better, and just as every yugioh fans said at least once: it gets dark (really dark). Slowly, the plot becomes more and more focused and you realize how serious the stakes actually are, and get seriously invested in the show. And that's one of the qualities to zexal: it's Focused. Unlike arc V which loses itself on different occasions, GX which almost doesn't have any link between each seasons whatsoever or DM which gets criminally lost in filler, Zexal picks a good narrative, and actually keeps it until the end, developing it in the best way possible. And while the Pacing might be quite awful for the first twenty episodes or so, it weirdly speeds up through the entire show and has one of the best, most fast-paced finale of any season.


╰──➤⊱Art: 9/10⊰
Now what makes good art is very subjective and I get it may feel a bit offbeat for old times yugioh fans, so I won't really dive into that. However in terms of animation, this series easily gets a solid 9. Again, the first 20 episodes are very weak in that regard... It just catches up afterwards, and keeps a constantly wonderful animation until the end. DM's animation became very ugly starting from season 4, Gx's animation, while not ugly, wasn't anything special either, and 5D's was half of the time the best looking one, and half of the time close to the ugliest. Zexal is Consistent. The important moments get an incredibly fluid flow and it always looks relatively pretty. One criticism I hear a lot is the average CGI, which isn' T wrong, but it does look better than the one from 5D's, and even better than Arc V's at times. Even that gets better with time


╰──➤⊱sound: 10/10⊰
Music too is subjective, but all I can say is that the sound duels are everything I love in an original soundtrack. I'll link a few memorable osts for you to get your opinion (hope they won't get removed by youtube)
https://youtu.be/Ft8sP53HN-E
https://youtu.be/3EW_WBCet6U
https://youtu.be/B_uBAvULhNM
https://youtu.be/oeC1cMBYLXQ
https://youtu.be/twzbIjS4BVM
https://youtu.be/mUnD7D7LYTk
It's mostly orchestral, and it has a certain charm

╰──➤⊱dueling action: 8/10⊰

Now the one thing I have to give to zexal duels is that they weren't really that strategic. The best way to describe them would be over the top. Dueling in space with a monster the size of the planet, having your monsters reach hundreds of thousands attack point, and having a million effects revealed throughout the duel in a flashy way... Zexal has it all. And I don't say that as a problem, the zexal duels were so entertaining because of that, but it did lack a bit of tension and strategy because of that.

╰──➤⊱characters: 10/10⊰

Aand this is where I can't continue without spoiling, so... Massive spoilers ahead.
Zexal makes perfect use of its important characters. The only "irrelevant" characters are his school friends, who aren't supposed to play any role in the story whatsoever outside of slice of life interactions anyway, I'm fine with that. In terms of relevant characters... There's a lot to talk about.

– Shark: the one thing I wanted to point out is the fact that Zexal doesn't have a central vilain. Vector is kind of the one behind everything happening in season 1, and he plays a fundamental role in the barian onslaught arc to a point where we're even left to believe he might be the bad guy. Don Thousand plays the role of the overarching nemesis who has been manipulating everyone all along, but the sole reason he and the barians exist is because of Eliphas, the purist dictator of the Astral world so focused on the ideology of purity and order that he rejects any form of chaos whatsoever. But the true final antagonist of this series, leader of the Barians, is Nash, also know as Kamishiro Ryoga, Shark. This guy gets introduced in season 1 as the stereotypical "bully" character, cunning and not so nice. He was in reality very desperate, his sister, the only family he had, being in a deep comma at the time and needing money to pay the operation. However, his reputation had already been tarnished by the arclight family as they very intentionally made him cheat in a duel tournament, and ruined his reputation alongside his life. This lead him to take part in gang activities and become a bully to reach his once noble goals. Until Yuma came in his life and took him out of this situation, essentially believing in him when no one else did. From that point on, Shark and Yuma become Friends. Yes, they do share a rivalry with one another, but what is important is the fact that they are Friends before anything else. So in the end when he is revealed to be great vilain of the series, ancient leader of the barians granted a second life by a god who cared for him, a fact he himself ignored... It seriously hurts. Seeing him being forced to cut ties with his friends and with his own humanity to try to save his own world is beyond painful, because he isn't evil, and it's important to get that: the barians aren't evil. They only want to destroy the Astral world so that the barian world and their friends living there-survive. It's nothing more than a need to live, and nothing about that is evil. In the end, he's beaten by Yuma not because he was weaker, but because the latter had something no one else in this series, Astral like barian like human had: an optimistic desire of peace. Shark deserves happiness

– Vector: Vector is pretty much the only evil barian there is. He gets introduced in the series as an adorable ally who doesn't want anything more than the happiest for everyone... Only for it to be geniusly revealed 30 episode later to have been a huge lie. He's the biggest a-hole there is, having trolled everyone with the greatest pleasure he could find there, mocking not only the characters but also us, the viewers, for having believed in his dumb lies. However what's important to see here is that Vector WAS initially a kind individual who desired peace before anything else. His memories had been altered by Don Thousand all along, making believe he had killed his parents and forcing the idea he was a psychopath into his mind. But when he hears this fact, he doesn't care. Instead, he trolls everyone again by making it seem like he cares, and uses it to his own advantage. To Vector, the fact he was once a good person before being manipulated just isn't important, it's not what's going to turn him into a better individual, because the one he is right now isn't that. He was one of the most fun vilains I have seen in Anime, not only being very threatening and interesting, but also actually being very funny, having a very messed up and quite honestly mature humor. And the fact he stayed evil doesn't mean he didn't have a tearjerker, satisfying conclusion to his character.

– Astral: Astral is an interesting character, because he is a being made of nothing more than order, the creation of the Astral world to destroy the Barian world... But he loses his memory because of Yuma's father trying to protect him. What is compelling about Astral is seeing how this character builds himself based on the informations he witnesses and how he makes his own vision of things through the show. It's a brilliant example of nature vs Nurture like in Vector's case, -he has been created to destroy the barian world, so is he going to do it in the end, despite everything he has learned with Yuma? This character of order slowly learns chaos thanks to Yuma and is faced with the realization of what is known as feelings, and how it can mean both pleasure and pain. He's definitely more than an Atem rip-off.

– Yuma: what people usually don't understand about Yuma is that he doesn't have a character arc, because he's not supposed to. Yes, he does emotially grow and gets better at the card game, but his character stays the same through the entire show, and it's a fundamental element. In episode 1,this loser kid opens the door of destiny, releasing Astral in his world, but also being presented with the idea that eventually, this power he obtains will make him lose the most important person to him. And for about 140 episodes, we are left wondering who that person might be, only for it to finally be revealed in his duel with Nash. The person he was going to lose wasn't Shark, it wasn't Astral, nor was it anyone around him: it was him, himself and he alone. Throughout the entire show, he is told that the interdimensional war that no matter the result, one side has to be eradicated in the end. The idea that one world strictly cannot, and will not exist while the other one is around is almost pushed down his throat at multiple occasions and it messes with his already damaged brain at this point... So much that, in the very end, he believes it. In his duel with Nash to decide of the outcome of the universe, he was about to kill his best friend in order to save the Astral world. This is what it really meant to "lose himself", the person who always did what needed to be done to avoid conflict. And through this duel, he manages to realize his failure and does what he always would have done : he cancels his attack despite the drastic turn this duel had taken and tries to think of a better way. In other words, he's like a Judai that managed to stand back up before he actually fell. In the end, he managed to pull himself together and stay the happy and naive child he always was, because that's what's best for him. Why do people want him to change when his entire development is that he shouldn't? And remember, he's nothing more than a little pure child taken in the interdimensional war that is zexal, it's... Pretty much normal he cries at the death of his friends, and that he's lost for pretty much the entirety of the final arc. Even more considering how caring and emotional he is.
And the message zexal is trying to give is very deep; there is always a better solution than conflict and hatred. If Yuma didn't negate his attack at that moment, Nash would have activated his trap and Yuma would have lost. Yuma tried to find a better solution, and even if that meant the Astral world had to accept chaos once more and by that, be in danger at all times, it doesn't really matter because everyone is safe and everything is fine. That's why the ending of zexal felt too simple for most people, it's because it is. They make us understand that things don't have to be complicated to be fine, and that a happy ending is possible even in the darkest stories. It's a perfect conclusion for such a series.

╰──➤⊱enjoyment: 9/10⊰

This series, not taking in account it's first share of episodes and it's few uninteresting filler episodes, was very entertaining for the most part. This is mostly due to the animation, the music, the story and the characters, so nothing much to say here. If you like it, it will be entertaining. If you don't, it will probably be a drag.

╰──➤⊱overall: 9/10⊰

If I was ranking the first act alone, I would probably give it a 7. If I was to rank the second half... Honestly a 10 although I might be biased. I think a 9 fits the overall series well, and for good reasons. It's probably the most emotional I have ever been about a yugioh series, and I'm a huge fan of the franchise. I guess it wouldn't please everyone, like I said it's a big hit or a big miss, but for me, it's only a few details away from perfection and I hope more people will be able to appreciate it in the future.