Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Movie: Chou Yuugou! Toki wo Koeta Kizuna

This movie inspired me.

This movie has probably changed my perspective on the world.

This movie is so shocking, it needs to be seen to be believed.

This is the worst movie I've ever seen in my entire life.

Story: The story is, in a sentence, non-sensical, plot-hole ridden and stupid beyond comprehension. I find it hilarious the villain's name is Paradox. The writers of this crapfest have probably never seen any piece of fiction or anything involving time travel in their lives. The amount of Time Paradoxes are immense. Sonic 06, eat your heart out. You won't even need to think about it, they're incredibly blatant. Anyone whose ... seen Back to the Future will cringe as they break every convention of time travel related story-telling or even just logic. Even so, the plot is almost non-existant. Half of the movie is the climactic duel between the heroes and Paradox. The other half is just them running around, following Paradox through time and watching things explode in gimmicky THREE-DEE. The pacing is all over the map. Fast, then slow, then fast. Then it's over. I still felt like basically nothing had happened. Running, card game, over. Another problem is how cliche it is. If you are an anime fan or a movie buff or anyone who enjoys fiction in general, you will be able to piece this movie together from other (probably better) movies. Just with better character designs and more logic. The writing is shoddy, the dialogue is stilted and bad in both languages. But what really annoys me is that none of this movie makes sense. I've seen some damn stupid movies/movies/books etc. in my day, but this takes the cake, eats it, craps it out and eats it again. Repeating the process ad infinitum. It doesn't matter if you've watched Yu-Gi-Oh!, GX or 5D's, dubbed/subbed or whatever, this movie doesn't add up. The time travel was handled so poorly I can barely comprehend it. And it wraps it up with a forced, awful friendship speech. Gag me with a knife.

Art: Yeah, the art in this movie is ridiculous. Yugi's, Yusei and Jaden and basically everyone else all have inane, usually multicoloured, hair. It's so distracting and I have the feeling the author put that in just to make them seem more memorable. All subtlety is lost and Yusei being completely serious while sporting that retarded, crab-like hair was truly surreal. The actual animation wasn't bad. It's not as fluid as it should be and doesn't feel like the step up from the show it should be. It's not KyoAni, it's not Ghibli, it's not BONES, it's just Toei.

Sound: The dub is passable. I don't care what you think, it is. If anything, the dub is better than the movie. The sub is alright too, it's not like the movie deserves amazing voice talent. The music is also fine. It hits alright notes when you should be 'feeling' something. I actually had to rely on the music to tell me how to feel. Maybe I just have a dried up apple for a heart. Either way.

Character: Just as bad as the story. Any and all characterization relies on you having seen the other three shows. That's fine and all, but it's still gut-wrenchingly awful. These characters are so one-note. They never change in any way. I know it's not impossible to change or at least affect well established characters in long-running Shonen series, watch the sixth One Piece movie if you don't believe me. It's not even fun to watch them. You would think the concept of seeing these three characters just being in the same room would be fun, but they barely interact with each other. That, right there, negates the point of the entire movie. What's the point of Jaden, Yusei and Yugi all being together if they don't interact with each other? That card game and friendship speech just aren't enough. Oh, and I haven't even gotten to Paradox. He is, easily, the worst villain in the history of, not just anime. Not just cinema. Not just animation. But fiction in general. His goal is retarded and vaguely explained. I can't go further because of spoilers, let's just say that when he tells you, your mind will explode. His motivation for wanting his retarded goal is also retarded. Easily the logical lowpoint of the whole movie. And that is saying something.

Enjoyment: With the nonsense plot and baffling characters, you would think this movie would hurt to watch it for even a moment. But, you would think wrong. This movie is the greatest thing I've ever seen. It's awful. Definitely. But it smashes the Uncanny Valley so hard I couldn't help but love it. It's not 'So Bad it's Good', that would imply it has redeem qualities story-wise, when it doesn't. It's not 'So Bad it's Horrible', because it isn't painful to watch. This movie is in a class of its own. This movie is condensed nonsense, taking itself seriously and creating a void in logic so deep, that is sucks you in and forces you to laugh. This is honestly, one of the funniest things I've ever seen. You will laugh at the character designs. You will laugh at Paradox's horribleness. You will laugh all through-out the 30 minute long card game to decide the fate of the universe. You will love the nonsense and you will laugh violently when the movie tries to make you feel something through the struggles of these cardboard cut-out characters with dumb hair getting you feel something with their predictable, easily solved because time travel, dilemmas. This movie is so much fun and you shouldn't pass it up. It's still horrible. Don't get me wrong. But it is a special kind of horrible.

And that's what this whole movie is. A special kind of horrible.

Story: F
Characters: F
Art: B-
Sound: B-
Enjoyment: A+

Overall: F

This Yu-Gi-Oh! special/film brings together the main protagonists from each of the franchises anime’s (excl. Zexal) together to fight a time-travelling evil villain named Paradox. Yusei, Jaden and Yugi must now defeat him in a duel before he destroys all their worlds.

With a clichéd and predictable story, I think that only a Yu-Gi-Oh fan could truly enjoy and appreciate this. Bonds Beyond Time could of easily featured appearances by Kaiba, Joey, Téa, Tristian etc. but only manages to squeeze in the main characters, which was disappointing.

All of the original English voice actors retain their roles (I think) and for a 4Kids! Dub, it was ... well pulled off. I really liked the bonds between Yugi, Jaden and Yusei and the nice thank you message at the end credits as well as a mix of the three series theme songs.

Since the first time I watched this movie, I finally re-watched it (after like 7 years I think?)

Story: 8
I really liked the story. I do think it should have explained this future Paradox was talking about better but now that we saw a futuristic Duel Academy in Arc-V, he maybe meant that?

Art: 10
I just loved the art :p

Characters: 8
I was super nice seeing Yugi, Jaden and Yusei interacting and working together. I've always loved crossovers for exactly this reason. There's nothing better seeing characters from different series/era's working together and fighting the same villain. And even though this movie is clearly focused on Yusei ... (which is logical), I do wanted more references to Kaiba, Joey and the other characters. Or maybe even show them.

Enjoyment: 10
I just enjoyed this movie. I loved the duel. The only Yu-Gi-Oh movie I would (and will) re-watch multiple times out of my own will :p

Overall: 9

Yu-Gi-Oh: Bonds Beyond Time by all means not an amazing movie to say the least, but that is not to say that I did not enjoy the film. Anyway, lets begin.

Story - The story of the movie sees the 3 heroes of the series face off against the main villain in the film named Paradox. The heroes paths intertwine, and how that is done is told really well, and makes sense. It starts of in Yusei's timeline and his encounter with Paradox, then follows Jayden's encounter with Paradox. Eventually Jayden and Yusei meet up with each other because Yusei followed Paradox into the time portal. ... Eventually they follow Paradox again in order to warn Yugi of Paradox's plans.

Art - The art style is still the same from the original series, but the colours are more bright and vibrant, enhancing the experience.

Sound - Nothing much to say really, if you have watched Yu-Gi-Oh, you know what the sound is like.

Character - With Yugi, Yusei and Jayden teaming up, they are an amazing team. The characters work well together, and no one overshadowed the other...in a sense. (I was rooting for Yugi to just own and the others to be in the background :P) Paradox is interestng to say the least. He is considered to be 'the most powerful enemy' and he wants to destroy the game of duel monsters in order to prevent the destruction of his timeline.

Enjoyment - I really enjoyed my experience, but I did find it funny with the amount of trap cards countering each other. It almost gets ridiculous in a way, but still I enjoyed the film.

Overall - If you like Yu-Gi-Oh, then you'll like this film.

It’s time to duel, this time with the protagonists from the first three Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series. But how does this 10th anniversary movie for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise stack up? As a note, prior to watching this movie I have only seen the first series.

A mysterious figure is traveling through time and causing problems involving the destruction of Duel Monsters and the world, and the three Yu-Gi-Oh! heroes must join together with the magical power of time travel to defeat this new nemesis in an epic card game. It is a simple story, which is fitting of a movie that only spans around 45 minutes, excluding ... the credits. There are various moments in the movie in which I think to myself “What?” or “This makes no sense,” but this is Yu-Gi-Oh!, so a good deal of suspension of disbelief is required.

The heroes of the story are Yugi Mutou, Judai Yuki, and Yusei Fudo. The movie largely portrays Yusei, the hero of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, as the most important of the protagonists, and he is given the most screen time of the three characters. This makes sense as the movie first played while the 5Ds series was still airing. The movie assumes that the viewer is already familiar with the characters, though it is still easy to get the basic gist of the characters without watching their respective series. The villain is Paradox, who I found quite dull in all respects aside from his character design, which is absolutely ridiculous yet simultaneously cool. He does not have much of a personality besides being generically “evil” and simply fills the role of the necessary big baddie of the story.

A good portion of the movie consists of a duel, so it is a shame that duel has to be so incredibly bland and uninteresting. It feels like an advertisement for the new “Sin” (“Malefic” in English) cards which are introduced by Paradox. Also, the duel is more of a card showcase than a duel, as the most famous monsters from the first three shows are all brought out onto the field. If it just makes you happy seeing Black Magician and Stardust Dragon on the field together, then good for you. But I feel that the movie’s necessity of having all of these monsters present really restricts the duel from becoming something unpredictable, strategic, and fun.

On the technical side of things, the art is good and the quality is consistent throughout the film. I’m not a big fan of CGI in anime in general, but it is done decently in the movie. With regard to sound, I enjoyed the inclusion of Yugi’s main theme and what I presume to be Judai’s and Yusei’s themes, which played on their respective turns in the duel.

Honestly, this movie is just a slapdash excuse to bring together the Yu-Gi-Oh! main characters. The story is predictable, the duel is not very exciting, and the villain is a bore. I feel like the movie could have done better with a longer running time; at the very least, more detail on Parodox’s plight could have helped his character. Bonds Beyond Time is a fan service movie for Yu-Gi-Oh! fans and hardly anything more. In the end, I’d give it a half-hearted recommendation for fans of any of the first three Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, but no one else.

This review will be based on the Japanese version. Also, I had finished this movie a long time ago (in 2011) before writing this review.

As far as I remember when I watched this movie, this movie was released in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Most fans in my belief were waiting impatiently for this movie, as this was the first movie in the history of all Yu-Gi-Oh! movies to date, where all three protagonists from each era – Yugi Muto (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters), Judai Yuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX) and Yusei Fudo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s) had all made an appearance. Their purpose here ... is to defeat Paradox, the main antagonist, who couldn’t be defeated if each of them had a solo duel with him. The movie may seem good due to the appearance of all three protagonists and hence an expectation of an epic long-length movie. However, this movie had failed to be on the expectations of some fans. As the expectations were ranging from a good story and characters, to having all the powerful cards being played during the main duel against the main antagonist. But non of these were accomplished well in this movie unfortunately, which was a pity. Especially the story.

The story in this movie was definitely a weak spot. The producers had probably rushed their way through this movie during production. A rushed work can never be as good as a work that had being done carefully. But this movie became a victim of this. A movie which was expected to have a duration of over an hour long, but turned out, it was less than an hour (45-50 mins approx.) in length. Due to the short length, the storyline didn’t develop too far and when things were getting interesting, the movie had ended. Therefore, the story was one of the weak points of this movie, as the background story of Paradox, wasn’t told very well and it was too brief. A lot of expansion to his backstory would be required, which would make the story better. Hence we will learn more about Paradox and his purpose. But since the detail wasn’t there that much, therefore the rating for the story is only 7/10. Though the good news is that, the final arc of the main series of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, known as the Arc Cradle arc, had revealed more about who Paradox worked for and a slight amount of details that made the plot in this movie much more sense. This is one good aspect of this short movie in comparison to other Yu-Gi-Oh! movies, as this movie had a connection to the main plot of the main series. In this case, the movie connects to the final arc as mentioned before. This means it's not really a waste of time watching this movie.

The art style was good. The CG effects for some summoned monsters were flawless. Though a CG effect on the D-Wheels was slightly annoying sometimes and seemed out of place occasionally. But overall, the movie was animated well. The Sin Monsters that Paradox had in possession were also drawn and animated well.

The music was the same as the main series, no problems with them. Though there were some downsides. One thing would be the fact that this is a movie, so there might be an expectation of some unique soundtrack for Paradox, but there weren’t any. The other thing would be the ending theme for the movie. It may sound nice at first when nobody knows what the lyrics are. But once I read the translated lyrics, I realised that the ending theme turned out to be a love song, which was completely out of place. As there were no romance in the movie at all. This was a let down and in turn it affects the overall rating for sound. But in terms of the voice actor who voiced Paradox, I think he was perfect for him, the voice had matched Paradox's personality and appearance.

The next weak point would be the characters. One might expect an appearance of all the supporting characters from all three eras of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but there weren’t many except Yugi’s grandfather, Pegasus, Yubel and all the usual characters from 5D’s. There weren’t many character development in any of the three protagonists in this movie. They remained the same as in their corresponding eras. Though Paradox was a good antagonist in this movie despite the weak backstory. His villainous personality was shown quite well and there were no occasions where he may seem to be a good guy. Also, similar to the main series, he could be viewed as an anti-hero as well. Only if you watched the main series (especially the last arc of 5D's), you may understand why he could be an anti-hero despite his cruelty towards the past timelines.

In terms of enjoyment, I still had the enjoyment when watching this short movie, though everything seemed to be rushed, even the main duel seemed to be rushed. Due to this, it had affected my enjoyment a lot and as said before, it could do better.

Overall, this movie was watchable, but only if the producers had put in more effort into the production of this movie, then this movie would be one of my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! movies to date.

Yugioh: Bonds Beyond Time in America. I freaking loved this movie and in my opinion far surpasses the Pyramid of Light. Not only is there a lot more action in it and the story actually develops while it's been told, but everything about it is just much more grand and much more complex. Granted Pyramid of Light actually did have two actual duels in it while Bonds Beyond Time kind of only had one, but you could make an argument that it kind of actually had three. The one at the beginning with Yusei, the one with Jaden though most wouldn't really count that as ... a duel, but he still used his cards so it counts for me, and the final duel at the end. This was just an epic special for the 10th Anniversary for Yugioh and it didn't dispoint me at all.

The story I greatly enjoyed. It had a nice following through it and you never felt like that you got lost or confused during it because everything is explained as it goes through. It also has a nice few twists in it that kept everyone engaged and the fact that it was about the past, present, and future was just great too. What I also liked about it is that it's actually in contenuity with Yugioh 5D's and continues the story for that season. Though I really haven't watched 5D's that much I plan to and try to watch it again.

The art work was just superb and is a huge step-up from the Pyramid of Light. While the art work was good in that one, the art work truly succeeded even better here. There was more bright colors, more scenery to see, and the fact that the movie was just so huge was so great too. The animation was just top notch for me. Again, even better then the Pyramid of Light. The characters just looked even better then they do/did in their tv series.

The music was just great too and I'm really glad that they brought in not only most of the music that we heard during the seasons for each of the three duelists, but also that they kept it fresh with some new music as well. I did like that they played all three main themes at the end as well. I love those songs and can never get enough of them.

The characters; well, there's really nothing to say about them. I mean, it's Yugi/Atem, Jaden, and Yusei for crying out loud. The three main protagonists from the first three seasons. Voiced by their original actors and once again saving the world by teaming up. I will say that I did like the villian Paradox. Though I will admit that his motive is a little weak, but the deck that he uses is just awesome. I've never seen a deck as dark as his and it was just cool.

Again, I really enjoyed this 10th Anniversary Special for Yugioh and whoever came up with the idea for this movie and whoever the art and story team was, truly; outdid themselves. One more thing that I'd like to point out is that I also really enjoyed the 10 minute extra that the Americans put in at the beginning with the back story of all three duelists. That in my opinion was a real smart idea, because if there were any new duelists who hadn't seen the previous seasons and didn't know anything about it would get a little history or back story about the previous seasons and know what's happened. I love this movie and plan to get it one day.

I swear, i really, REALLY love yu-gi-oh, specially the first one with Yami Yugi.
I've finished this movie right now and i must to say that its good but its not like the pyramid of light. Surely i am saying that because the first time i watch yu-gi-oh it was when i was little. I didnt like Yusei, and he is the main character of this film and that really make me mad.
The plot, "i came from the future and i want to destroy" Ok, DUEL! "we'll win this because you dont decide our future"
Well the all duel is "other function", "other function, etc There ... were a lot of magic card and tramp card counterattacks and i liked that. I have a due, WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE TIME TRAVEL BOY? He died? he've just dissapeared? Where did he go? And, is Yugi more tall? Or is it just me?
Whatever, i liked the movie but im not very impressed.
If i wrote something wrong i am sorry, i'm learning english =D

All right, I'll admit it: my nostalgia/eagerness got away from me. I've got 2 more episodes of GX, but I'm familiar enough with 5Ds that I skipped right to the Bonds Beyond Time movie. I just couldn't fathom putting it off throughout another 150+ episodes. So here we are.

On one hand, this movie was everything I wanted it to be. It's Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm here for world destruction via card games, a little angst and darkness, and the cheesiest of friendship speeches. And it delivers on that.

But on the other hand, I can't deny that this movie felt... rushed. And I just can't fathom why. ... Or rather, how it found itself in that position. This is the big, celebratory, 10th anniversary movie where we get to see the first three main protagonists band together and overcome some great threat. It ought to be epic and moving, and to an extent, I did feel that. But any scene that wasn't directly related to setting up the story-- or the actual duel-- was zipped through. Not that a part of me didn't enjoy seeing our three heroes become instant, effortless bros, but you're telling me they didn't have the budget to pad out the scenes that really gave this movie heart? I mean, this movie isn't even an hour long. And the few lines Yusei has about having hope for the future just felt... obligatory? Like the writers got through the bare basics for the movie and then were like, "Oh shit, guys, do you think we should have some sort of moral?" That final scene with Yusei returning home really felt like it was tacked on as an afterthought.

Don't get me wrong, I did really enjoy the experience, but it felt a little lacking. (Actually, in hindsight, given how much of the focus was on Yusei and his Stardust Dragon specifically, this really felt like more of a 5Ds movie than a movie meant to represent all three seasons.)

Well... First of all I have to admit that this movie can't shock anybody with any sophisticated plot. To be honest the plot is so irrational and just stupid that any person who isn't a YGO fan would turn it off after first 5 minutes of the film.
Is seems like the director was trying to tell us some story, but he hadn't got enough time so it ended up as a total nonsense.
But, let's face it. The plot isn't the thing that is trully important in this movie.
What's cool about it are the characters. A fan of YGO of any age can find his favourite ... character here cause... there are all of them! Yes, we are given a unique chance to see Yugi, Yusei and Judai facing a bad-guy together.
What's more we are given a chance to see Black Magician, Elemental Hero Neos and Stardust Dragon played in a single Duel!

To sum up. The plot is dumb, but this move is just soo full of awesomeness! It's just 40 minutes and it's worth seeing. As long as you are a YGO fan of course.

The best thing about this movie is that all the 3 protagonists (Yugioh Duel Monsters, GX, 5Ds) come together. Well the only protagonist that matters to me is Yugi.
Here’s the plot, A VERY SILLY plot:
the future was destroyed by card games…………..?
this guy travels back in time to destroy card games, by playing card games…………..?

So they have a 1 vs 3 duel, the villain takes them to a realm that is not the Shadow Realm. He starts by overpowering them, eventually Yugi (of course) turns the duel around and they beat him together.

In all, a pretty good movie having the 3 together, it was very ... fun to watch even though the plot is silly.
The silliness comes from the antagonist whose goal is to save the future. But he goes at it the wrong way: hurting innocent people, stealing their cards, killing some people, not to mention he’s a hypocrite using duel monsters cards. Instead of simply using words and trying to warn people, he runs around like a maniac.

STORY is bullshit
CHARCTERS, the 3 protagonists are great, the villain is ridiculous.
But I’m a Yugioh fan, I loved this movie.

First thing I want to say:
I've always liked Yu-Gi-Oh! It is my one of my favourite anime and part of my childhood. There wasn't even one time when I actually badmouthed Yu-Gi-Oh! Even though I heard so many bad things about GX and 5D. I watched it for myself and judged it for myself. I liked it no matter what everyone said about it.

So I was really excited when I found out they were going to make a movie for the 10th anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh! But after watching the movie I was speechless. I honestly thought it was a disappointment.

Story:
The movie is about ... the three main characters who combine their powers to duel against Paradox, an evil person who is going back to the past to destroy the game which everyone loves, duel monsters, which according to him ruined his future. When you read it like that, of course it sounds awesome. But the way they developed the story sucked. The first one to travel back in the past is Yusei, thanks to the powers of the crimson dragon. Then he picks up Jaden/Judai and Yugi. It was fun to see all main characters together. Since the meeting between is such an important moment, I think they should've developed it more and made it more interesting to watch. Now it was like ' yeah they came from the future, okay sure whatever.'

I also have to say the duel was quite boring, comparing to the duels in the anime. It was way too short. The duel had ended only after a few turns. Before you actually knew it, the duel had ended. There was no excitement.

Animation:
I don't have any bad things to say about the animation, because it's still the same as the anime and I loved that.

Sound:
The music they used is the same as in the anime. They also used the opening of Duel Monsters, GX and 5D which added the right atmosphere, but they played it too much, which actually ruined it again.

Characters:
The most important characters are Yugi, Jaden/Judai, Yusei and Paradox. The three main characters kept their own personality, no changes to it, that's great of course. But in the movie, they focused especially on Yusei, which made it seem like he was the leader of the three of them. That didn't quite fit in the picture which you have of them. So it was kinda weird.

The enemy, Paradox is new. At the beginning you don't know anything about him, you don't even get to see face until the duel. As the story continues, you'll start to get to know him, but there are still things which are left open. Like they never told you exactly what happened in the future Paradox came from. Of course it creates a mysterious air around Paradox, but it would've been nicer if they told it.

Enjoyment:
Overall I say it's a disappointment, compared to the normal anime. Of course the movie was just an hour. I don't understand why they didn't make it longer, because this is a story which you can't fit in just an hour. It needs a slow development. And they also wasted more than 10 min of the hour on the introduction of the three main characters. It's nice to get to know them again, but it didn't have to be so long and we didn't have to know what they all went through all over again.

I cannot say it was the worst movie ever, because I have seen worse. There's also no way that I can ever hate it, because I repeat Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of my favourite anime and it always will be. But everything could've been better if the movie was longer and they paid more attention to the storyline.

Everything I remember about the series: campy as hell and really overdramatic. It was a nice thing to watch for nostalgia's sake, but it wasn't worth it to print it as a DVD/Blu Ray release (even the $5 I paid at Walmart for it was too much.) This should have been a TV special and left at that. I should mention that I am not the world's biggest Yugioh fan, but even I would think that having 3 of the most popular protagonists from the series history would have resulted in a more epic final battle. I think what really drags this down was because ... we have seen so much weird or mind-boggling stuff coming out of Yugioh before we take a lot to be shocked and impressed.

I found this movie enjoyable. The crossovers were entertaining, but that was the film's only redeeming quality. The plot was weak, and felt like it was thrown together in a hurry. I would only recommend this movie to die-hard YuGiOh fans, as it was sometimes cringeworthy to watch.

The movie's plot is simple and intriguing. A mysterious character from the future travels back in time to kill Pegasus and erase the Duel Monsters card game from history. To prevent this, our three heroes from different series must team up and save their beloved card game. The biggest issue is the numerous plot holes, especially those related ... to time travel. These plot holes were so distracting that they took me out of the story. Overall, the plot was poorly executed and didn't make much sense.

The movie mainly focuses on the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D universe, with a few appearances from characters in the original series and GX. However, the movie could have been more complex if it had included more characters. Unfortunately, the focus was only on four main characters, including the villain, who was one-dimensional and uninteresting. His backstory was almost non-existent, and the reasons for his attack on Pegasus were weak. The main characters were their usual selves, but Jaden felt out of place and randomly thrown in. They constantly made comments about friendship, being best buds, and their love of the children's card game, which became ridiculous. The dialogue was terrible.

Overall, the movie had many problems. Nonetheless, it was entertaining. I wish it were better.