Ranked #1581

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

When I was ten years old, my favorite show was Shinzo (AKA "Mushrambo"). I would rush home from school every day to watch it. One day, TV2 announced the premiere of a new show in the timeslot after Shinzo, which was apparently a big hit in the US. This show was "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters", or simply "Yu-Gi-Oh!" as it is known in most countries. I wasn't particularly interested at the time, but, having nothing better to do, I stuck around to watch this new show anyway.

And that's the story of how I first came into contact with the 4Kids dub of Yu-Gi-Oh. Of course, eventually I realized there was a much better version out there, the original Japanese one. My review is based on the Japanese version, because, lets face it, as much as I love YGO in any form, the 4Kids version is really just a load of watered down crap.

But anyway.

Story
Although most people simply dismiss it as a show about "children's card games", Yu-Gi-Oh definitely has a plot, and a damn good one at that. Basically, a boy named Yugi Mutou finds an old Egyptian artifact, the Millennium Puzzle, in the back of his grandpa's game shop. After piecing the puzzle together, Yugi is possessed by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, who is known as "Yu-Gi-Oh", or the King of Games. The Pharaoh is a master gamer, but remembers nothing about his past or who he really is. Yugi and his friends set out to unlock the secrets of the Pharaoh's memories by collecting the seven Millenium Items and the Egyptian God cards.

Yu-Gi-Oh has a strong focus on friendship - sticking together no matter what, trusting in both yourself and your friends, and working together. Yugi and the Nameless Pharaoh will learn much from each other over the course of their journey, and maybe they will be able to teach their friends (and even enemies) something too. It may sound cheesy, but YGO pulls it off very well.

Art
I've always been a fan of YGO's art. Some people think the character designs are pretty over-the-top, and I don't blame them, but Yugi just wouldn't be the same without his stupid starfish hair, would he? Some of the monster designs are kinda ugly, but there are also some that are absolutely brilliant (Silent Swordsman, anyone?), especially later in the series. Overall, it kinda balances out.

Sound
I lovelovelovelovelove YGO's music. The background music really enhances the emotion of the scene, like good BGM should. The OP/ED themes too are memorable and fitting to the series, the endings in particular. (Most of all, I love the fifth opening and the third ending.) And gosh, the voice actors have some real talent. The acting is all done perfectly, Seto and Yugi's especially. (The Japanese ones, I mean. The dub voice acting is 99% horrible - the only good points are Sieg's smexy German accent, and, of course, Eric Stuart. Even if he sounds way too husky as Seto, I still love him. <3)

Character
YGO!DM's real strong point is characterization. The "main group" of characters is composed of Yugi Mutou, the Nameless Pharaoh, Anzu Mazaki, Katsuya Jonouchi and Hiroto Honda - five friends, brought together by a wish Yugi made on his Millennium Puzzle. These are the kind of characters you just can't help but love. They are all given plenty of time to develop over the course of the series, and by the end of the last episode I'd gotten to know and love these guys so much, I was really sad to see them go.

But of course, there's the antagonists too. Yugi's main rival is Seto Kaiba, my personal favorite character. He's a stubborn, lonely guy, and he can be selfish at times, but although he won't admit it, he's actually Yugi's friend. He helps the gang out at times, but usually claims afterwards that he owed them or just happened to have the same enemy they did. Yeah, he's never gonna admit it, but he's a nice guy. xD

Over the course of the show, there are several "main" villains, ranging from the creator of the Duel Monsters game, Pegasus J Crawford, to Ryou Bakura, Yugi's friend possessed by another ancient Egyptian spirit. YGO, in my opinion, has some of the greatest villains from any anime ever. They're psychotic, cunning, ruthless, and ultra smexy (Seto <3), just like good villains (xD) should be. ^_^

You can also tell a lot about characters from their decks. Anzu's monsters are cute like her, but still pack a real punch. Jonouchi uses cards given to him by other duelists, taking what he has learned from all his battles to help him rise to the top. Yugi's cards start out small and cute, but grow or fuse to become much more powerful, just like he develops over the course of the show. The Pharaoh has monsters that fought alongside him and his priests during his past life, such as the Black Magician, Mystical Elf, Kuriboh and Curse of Dragon. Seto's dragons are just as ferocious as him, and he has a very special attachment to one of them in particular, which you find out more about later on. Marik has a torture deck for slowly and painfully crushing his opponents, which suits him perfectly. And Bakura plays an occult deck, dark and mysterious, just like him. Cards aren't just for dueling, you know. They reflect the duelist's personality, desires and emotions.

Enjoyment
YGO!DM is one of those shows that is so good, you never want it to end. I enjoyed watching it so much, when it was finally over, I cried and wished that it could just go on forever (then came YGO!GX, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish). For the past five years of my life, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters has inspired me, made me laugh, and made me break down in tears too. Everyone makes fun of me because I love it so much, but it's a truly amazing series. Yeah, basically, I love this show to bits.

Overall
If you've only seen the 4Kids version, you've never seen the real Yu-Gi-Oh, and I encourage you to give the Japanese version a try (though there is a noticeable lack of good fansubs). Just watch it, m'kay? <3 read more

I, probably like many others, watched Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series without ever watching much of the original show. Since TAS is hilarious, I assumed the original show was just another bad kid's show. Something made me decide to watch it a while ago. I then realized the error of my ways. This is not a kid's show by any means. It is a show for men.

Story: 7/10

While the story is not perfect by any means, it's about fucking card games what do you expect? I'd give it a 10/10 but only women care about stories so an 7/10 is the highest score I can give here. To further explain, the only anime stories I would score above an 8 are Rainbow (10/10) and all Gundam series (9/10) except for G Gundam (it's for children.) So, do not be disheartened by the 7/10 story.

Art: 9/10

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters has given us some of the best character designs in anime history. Beyond anime history, the history of the universe. Hell, before seeing this show my favorite fictional character design was George Washington. But even Washington's design pales in comparison to those of characters like Bandit Keith, Yami, Tristan, Mako Tsunami, Pegasus, Bakura, and last but not least, Chemo. Yes the guy with the huge hair's name is Chemo. As in chemotherapy. Unfortunately, I had to dock a point from the art score due to the fact that there are female characters in the show. I still have not been able to figure this one out. The only explanation I can think of is that they wanted a blond female with large breasts to appeal to terrible baka gaijins.

Sound: 7/10

This literally has the best American voice track in any anime. Maybe you think Hellsing has a good dub. Maybe Baccano! Maybe Yu Yu Hakusho. If you think any of those dubs are good, you are wrong. It has been scientifically proven that the original Nippon voices are always superior except in the case of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. Dan Green gives an Oscar-worthy performance as both Yugi and Yami. Yami's voice is the best though. I want to have sex with his voice and so does every other good American. Also, this does not make me gay. Wanting to have sex with Dan Green's voice is about as gay as Char Aznable and Garma Zabi showering together. AKA not gay at all. I had to subtract one point due to Marik sounding like a woman.

As for the music, it is by no means bad. The American opening theme is pretty good. In the end though, I had to take away two points since spoilers the Star Spangled Banner never plays. I literally shed manly tears upon finishing the last episode when I found this out.

Character: 10/10

Easy 10/10 here. Every character is well written and serves a purpose. Even the female characters serve the purpose of making the male characters look better. I thought Yugi was going to be lame at first but he's actually pretty badass. His alter ego, Yami, is the best character in the show. Seto Kaiba is arguably the deepest character in all of fiction. They made him even better in the dub too since he wasn't nearly as big of a douche in the original Nippon version. Joey Wheeler is great. Just try not crying manly tears as you see him struggle to save his sister. Bandit Keith... enough said. Tristan Taylor exists just to add another manly character to the cast. He never plays a card game (except in filler,) but he takes on bodyguards, hits on a blind chick, rides a motorcycle, and sneaks around a castle wearing a suit of armor. Oh yeah and he does all this when he's 10 FUCKING YEARS OLD.

I'm not even scratching the surface of the great cast. Just writing about them doesn't do them justice.

Enjoyment: 8/10

The most enjoyable part of the series is easily the card games. I was just on the edge of my seat waiting to see how Yami will cheat next. There are a few flaws, though. One of which are the awful duels with female characters. Thankfully, I don't think any of these are longer than one episode and spoilers Mai Valentine never wins a duel. Still, I had to dock one point for these. The other point lost was for the Yami backstory arc. This was so boring that I had to skip it. Upon finishing the series, a friend of mine told me I cheated since I didn't watch most of this arc. My response? "Yeah, just like Yami." This brings me to the end and true focus of this review.

Overall: 8/10

This anime is by no means perfect. (It's not Rainbow.) It is still a great show. I laughed (at the females dueling,) I cried (manly tears,) and most importantly, I learned a lesson. That lesson is that cheating is good. I'd been raised to think that cheating was bad. Unfortunately for me, I didn't watch this until I was in college. If I had watched this when I was a kid, I could be cheating my way through an Ivy League school right now.

To expand on the last paragraph, achieving your goals through any means necessary is the way to go. When Yami dueled Panik, a guy who went around Duelist Kingdom bullying females at night, did he forgive him? Hell no, he bullied him right back and sent him to the Shadow Realm aka he fucking killed his ass.

Please, watch this show. If you ever have offspring, first, hang your head in shame. Raising children is not a man's job. Though, if you insist on raising a child, make them watch this show.

I hope you enjoyed reading my review and please say it was helpful because if you don't, Bro would be ashamed. read more