Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Sevens

Yugioh Sevens is good. I think.

The Good

>Humor: This is objectively the funniest Yugioh series to date. The jokes are well-timed and barely ever fall flat. This is the first Yugioh series so far that I'm always looking out fot the latest episode so that I could get some laughs and maybe forget my depression or something. The older series have occasional comic relief, too, but they're not just as funny as this one.

>Theme: Strangely enough, Sevens reminds me of 5D's a lot. I guess it has to do with both series having a similar "theme" overall. This theme about
"changing your destiny", or something along ... those lines. 5D's is set in Domino City (the "rich" part of the town) and Satellite (the poor part of the town). Citezens of Satellite are forbidden in leaving the place, lest they'd be arrested for doing so. The protagonist, Yusei, is born on Satellite. He built his motorcycle thingy so that he could his fate that brought him to Satellite and go to the City. (I'm gonna cut this here to avoid spoilers.)

In Sevens, this theme is seen again. Goha City, where the anime is set, is controlled by this large, illuminati-like company called 'Goha corporation", where this company controls almost every aspect of the Goha citizen's lives. They have drones everywhere patrolling the streets. Apparently they can control the spread of information as well, when they deleted every webpage on the internet mentioning anything related to Rush Duels. It's almost like a dystopian society, 1984-style. The show as a whole has a friendly, cartoonish atmosphere however. Yuuga, our protagonist, didn't like that, so he created these new Rush Duels. (Watch the show to learn more.) This anime almost feels like satire, if it isn't one already.

tl;dr 5D's - Poor people living in the slums vs the limits that their own fates had set them
Sevens - A bunch of kids vs an evil corporation that controls every aspect of their city and their lives.

>Characters: The characters all have their distinct and sometimes contrasting personalities that resulted in some amusing interactions in the series so far. I don't wanna give out spoilers so I'll cut this here.

>Music: The opening and ending songs are total bangers. ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX. NANANANANANA. okay i get it you're catchy please get out of my head i'm trying to sleep

The Bad

>Rush Duels: Okay, let me get this straight. I'm not a fan of Rush Duels. They make the Dynamax mechanic of the recent Pokemon games seem balanced in comparison. Being able to +5 every turn is really really powerful. Pot of Greed makes you +1 and that card has been banned for years and will probably never return. Also, the duels in the anime so far are... really simple. Okay, nothing wrong with that, but I miss the big brain plays protags like Yusei and Yusaku used to make.

Other
A lot of people pointed out the art reminds them more of Beyblade, etc rather than a Yugioh anime. I don't really mind the art, as long as their bodies aren't disproportioned or something.
The art is fine. I don't think it's particularly good or bad and I have nothing to say about it.

Overall:
I think people were a bit too mean with this show simply because the art style feels differentt. It has themes which I think is reminiscent of 5D's, my favorite Yugioh series thus far. The characters are promising. I'm excited to see how they grow. (I'm looking at you, Rumin. Please don't be another benchwarmer like the other Yugioh lead girls.)
I have high hopes for you Sevens. Please don't disappoint me.

TLDR: This is the most criminally under-rated show on MAL. I've never written a review on MAL before but in this case, I felt compelled to as this show deserves a much higher score.

When I saw the (as of writing) 5.84 rating that this show was given by MAL users, I was ready to write it off as I had made the assumption that anything less than a 7 would be a waste of my time. But on a whim, I decided to check out the first episode as I grew up watching and playing Yu Gi Oh (we took our duels VERY seriously...) ... and I occasionally miss it so I like to see what's new.

As per the MAL rating, I came into the first episode with low expectations but in the end, I was utterly blown away. Long story short, this show is FUN. It has my favourite OP this side of Bloody Stream and the cast is incredibly likable (especially Rook who is 50% edgy, 50% extremely goofy. He's the best). This is easily the funniest Yu Gi Oh series and I've found myself laughing in every episode so far. The main character Yuga is also very likable and is my favourite Yu Gi Oh protagonist since Yusei from 5Ds. I'm so happy to be able to say all this because I had thought that the Yu Gi Oh series would be all down hill from 5Ds.

But the main thing I want to discuss in this review isn't why this show is so good but why, in spite of its quality, its MAL rating is so low. I think it ultimately comes down to the changes this show makes from Yu Gi Oh series prior. There are new rules, there's a new art style and the main cast are younger than ever. Changes like this are bound to evoke ire from long term fans of the series who don't want to see major changes to their beloved franchise and so associate the changes with a decline in quality. The new rules are really fun and take the game back to basics (without feeling overly simple like Duel Links). As you can now draw cards until you have 5 during your draw phase, comebacks feel way more plausible and less like an asspull. I think the art still looks nice and the character designs are great. The only problem is the CGI monsters but this has quickly grown on me and doesn't bother me anymore. Though the main cast are around 11 years old, the show is not at all alienating to an older audience, and the age of the characters doesn't really matter as the show could have been set in High School and still be the same.

To conclude, this is my favourite show at the moment and I hope that the low MAL rating doesn't dissuade you from giving it a go like it almost did to me. The creators are clearly very passionate and their passion is infectious. As soon as the new cards are released, I will say goodbye to my family and make my return to duelling. What could be higher praise for a Yu Gi Oh show than that?

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Sevens is, as the name implies, the seventh instalment in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise. Quite frankly, if you want my opinion summed up in a flash, it's a breath of fresh air from the otherwise stagnant state previous anime found themselves in.

As such a statement implies, Sevens is radically different from its predecessors. To give you a list, it's: Slice of life focused, got tight knight 12 to 15 episode arcs, good about not forgetting plot points and, most importantly of all, it's light-hearted. It takes a more comedic angle of attack compared to the more traditionally heroic predecessors. This means that Sevens has a ... lot of jokes, puns and catchphrases in it; this may be off-putting to some. In my opinion, the show was hitting all the right spots with its comedy. Mileage may vary, however, as I recognize it's not something everyone is going to appreciate or enjoy. Naturally, even for those who do enjoy the comedy, not all of it is going to land for every person. To me, though, the quality of gags is consistently high enough to be an entertaining ride start-to-finish.

That being said, while Sevens likes to goof around a lot, that doesn't mean there's no story to be found. We follow our main character, Ohdo Yuuga, as he tries to change the rigid world of dueling by installing his new "Rush Duel" format of rules. He has all sorts of misadventures trying to protect his new format, together with the help of some friends he picks up along the way of course. There's always a new antagonist out to destroy rush duels once and for all. As you may have guessed, Rush Duels play a very important part in the story. If you're not familiar with them, though, you may ask this: what *are* they? I'll give you a rundown, but I'll be assuming you know how the original game works. To be short about it, it's a completely separate format with its own card pool made up of largely new cards, separate from the main game of "Yu-Gi-Oh!". You can normal summon any number of times in the turn. The player for their turn draws until their hand is up to 5 cards. There are only 3 monster and spell/trap zones and, finally main phase 2 is entirely gone. It goes straight from the battle phase to end phase.

With the quick explanation of *what* rush duels are out of the way, one thing you're going to have to live with in this show is that EVERY duel is a rush duel. Master duels are not the focus here, and won't be for the forseeable future of the franchise... and unfortunately for Sevens, if it falls short in any department, then its duel writing would be that. Most duels in Sevens are only one episode and during that time last only four turns. With the format being entirely new, this doesn't help its early duels to stand out. While the latter half of the show can keep things exciting due to building on mechanics established earlier, the first half of Sevens will feel painfully slow (which is ironic, given the nature of the duels) as plays are overly simplified for the sake of easing new players into a new game. Duels can also feel incredibly... rushed. As stated, however, this problem is mostly resolved in the back end of the show. There are also other aspects that stand out as much, much stronger.

For one, the character writing in Sevens is positively charming. While it's true that most characters have a gimmick to them that they refuse to drop at any point in the show, they still manage to be more than -just- their gimmick. Almost everyone you'll meet, even the one-shot characters, is endearing in their own unique way. The cast bounces off each-other well and the core cast of characters, especially our protagonist Yuuga, are all incredibly likeable. You genuinely want to root for these kids as they try to fight and work towards their dreams, especially as their goals are often innocent and very admirable. Sevens' character writing is incredibly optimistic, with very little cynicism to be found. It makes for a refreshing breather from how miserable some of the other shows could get at their most dramatic.

The story is also a positive, as while not always the most complex, it does keep building on itself. Not a single plot point is forgotten and even a character who's only shown up once in the first 10 episodes can suddenly make a quick reappearance to help out in the final arc. There are some signs of rushing the plot near the end, but overall you get the sense that the writers knew what story they wanted to tell and kept building to their intended climax. Sevens takes a slight mystery aspect to it, where it leaves the audience guessing as to what the bigger picture is. It helps draw an interconnected thread throughout the various mini-arcs and, overall, these elements work incredibly well to tell a coherent and consistent tale across its 92 episodes. While Sevens doesn't pretend to get dark for even a moment, there's still an incredibly fun ride to be had.

As you may have guessed, I personally really like the show. It's charming in so many ways and so very, very different from everything else in its franchise. If you go in with an open mind and don't expect the traditional "Yu-Gi-Oh!" experience, you might find a lot to like here. Even if you don't, there is no world in which sevens could be considered a bad show. There are certainly more issues you could raise with the characters and story writing than I presently have, this is true. That doesn't mean that its lows are awful by any means, though. Its quality is consistent, for better or worse, and if you like the first few episodes even a little, there is no doubt you'll enjoy the rest of the show as it only gets better over time.

December 20th, 2019:

After another 3 year era of a Yu-Gi-Oh! entry behind us, we sat down - food and drinks in hand - alongside our loved ones. We speculated, expressed our excitement, and laughed in honor of the announcement that would mark the next step of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise that we all know and loved. This one was special, however, as the recent Yu-Gi-Oh! anime - Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS - was cut short, leaving the only fathomable reason to be for the sake of the next entry.

Finally, after many hours, no, 2-3 patient months, the livestream began and we got our first glimpse at the new ... 7th Yu-Gi-Oh! anime... Little did anyone expect, this singular glimpse would shake the Yu-Gi-Oh! community's very core; moments before 2020 subjected its jaw dropping events onto the world.

Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS is by far the most drastic away from form in the history of the franchise. Needless to say, a lot of pessimism was directed toward the announcement. Change is a tricky beast and its nature easily births audience apprehension, especially on hardcore anime and official card game fans. However, we can only forge so many opinions before the official airing; on paper tends to pan out much differently into execution, so how did Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS pan out? Judging by my score, you can probably already guess my thoughts on it and I can only provide context to both longtime fans and potential new viewers contemplating spending their time with this product. And with Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS filling the void of 2020 anime hiatus, now's the best time to gather our thoughts regarding this entry! Here we go...

Few things to note:

I will be bringing up comparisons between SEVENS and the previous entry, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, as some of my thoughts stems from its aftermath. Most importantly though, I want to judge Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS on its own merit since while comparisons can be useful tools for understanding, they can downplay one's view of the product by muddying it with biases, which in my opinion is unfair to the product at hand attempting to stand on its own.

Story - 6:

The story of Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS is pretty simple. A elementary school boy named Yuga Ohda believes that his home, Goha City, has rules that are far too rigid for anyone to have fun dueling. Rebelling against this, Yuga creates a new style of dueling called "Rush Duels" portraying the complete opposite of the controlling and tight rules wrapped around Goha City's neck by the Goha Corporation. Now, Yuga and his group of friends work to make Rush Dueling a national sensation that'll hopefully break the rigid system placed upon his city.

A fairly simple synopsis, but an interesting premise. The world of Goha City's clearly a dictatorship where EVERYTHING'S being governed and controlled. From school, daily life, daily necessities, and of course, duels. Although we haven't seen all these elements in actions since we're only 5 episodes in - most of which were focused on introducing our cast - you do see some of it at play. For example, kids can't even trade cards without Goha Corporation's supervision... Let me repeat, YOU CAN'T TRADE CARDS WITHOUT GOHA CORPORATION'S SUPERVISION! This is a TRADING card game mind you and while a corporation does control the management of the actual card game, it's never on a personal extent like this. Furthermore, everyone's duel disks are run by accounts and if you get enough penalties, your account will be deleted thus preventing you from ever dueling again and guess who runs it: Goha Corporation. They can even go as far as deactivating the duel disk whenever they want, so already we can see what Yuga's talking about when he says these rules are rigid in the dueling scene.

With Rush Duel's existence, it'll be interesting to see what Goha Corporation will do and what Yuga'll do in return as the battle between them - currently nothing but a small scuffle - escalate into a full blown conflict.

Oh, and um, what are "Rush Duels" you ask? Remember Speed Duels? They're like that except... SCREW THE RULES:

1. You can Normal Summon as many times as you want.

2. During your Draw Phase, you draw until you have 5 cards in hand instead of only drawing 1 (unless you have 5 cards in hand already).

3. There's no Main Phase 2.

4. Rush Duels have their own card pool separate from the actual TCG/OCG.

5. The field has 3 main monster zones and 3 spell/trap card zones.

If you want to know more, look it up, but you can see how "free" this duel format is, ha ha! It does look fun though. The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime always has a knack at making otherwise weak material so inspiringly fun! I'd love to try Rush Duels one day and I hope people gives it a chance instead of leaving it behind on paper.

The reason I gave the story a 6 though is because we're still in the building stages of the anime. As I said prior, most of the episodes were dedicated on introducing our cast, and additionally, subtle world building; so the story hasn't really progressed after the first episode - or at least not drastically - but the elements placed so far can be exploited for many intriguing directions. This has the potential to be great if the writers play their cards right... Pun unintended. ;o

Art - 7:

This was where almost the entire controversy surrounding Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS stemmed from: the complete artstyle change. Personally, I was one of the few who didn't have a problem with it. In fact, although overall generic, I like the new artstyle. I find it bright, fun, and it brings out a lot of character (speak of the devil considering what section's coming up). DON'T GET ME WRONG THOUGH! Like everyone else, I prefer the OG artstyle. The iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! artstyle was sharp, had a lot of detail that brought numerous memorable expressions, and of course was unique. Despite all that though, I can't hate this artstyle because it's not even bad to me.

Perhaps it's because I don't have that strong of an attachment to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, so the change doesn't affect me on a personal level as it does other people who've been with this franchise for years... Or maybe I'm just very tolerant; it is what it is. 🤷

One thing I'll say though is that the art quality can be inconsistent at times. Like the recent episode had some, to put it nicely, weird shots here and there personally. Plus, the animation can be a bit stiff at times. It's only sometimes though; look at episode 1 and 3 for the best shots and animation you'll ever see from this anime!

Sound - 6:

...Honestly, I don't even remember most of the tracks in SEVENS. Yuga's theme is flames though (I want a copy of this so bad) and the opening's catchy.

Character - 9:

The section I've been looking forward to, hoo boy!

THE CHARACTERS ARE GREAT! I love the main cast's dynamic with each other and they exude so much energy that it always brings a smile on my face! And despite being younger than me, I can somewhat relate to them and understand them for the most part, so that's nice! I also like how the characters interact with the world, using social media to advertise Rush Duels for example. It's an easy relatable feature showcasing the knowledge of the young and how tuned they are to modern technology, and the anime always does those interactions in both clever and funny ways.

Now's the best time to start bringing up the VRAINS comparisons. I did plan on making a VRAINS review as well... but I accidentally X'd out of the page where I wrote it and didn't feel like rewriting it all (trust me, IT WAS A LOT), so I'll give a short version of my thoughts now:

VRAINS was a mixed bag. I still enjoyed it, but the anime had its problems which I couldn't overlook. One major complaint I have are the characters. They all had great introductions and backstories, but most of them didn't follow up very well, to the point that a lot of them ended up... stale? There were good ones, definitely (Ai, Takeru, and pretty much all the main villains - Revolver being the best, imo), however there were those who got development but never gained any pay off (Aoi), or were just characters I didn't find interesting nor good (Yusaku and Go). This is because VRAINS focused way more on the story, which while appreciated, didn't flesh out the characters required well; they felt more like chess pieces than actual people.

Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS' the complete opposite, though. All the characters have engaging personalities and dynamics, making them a breath of fresh air after coming off a no nonsense anime like VRAINS. Characters are created to carry a plot and if they aren't engaging or interesting, that's a major hit on the plot itself. VRAINS' characters fortunately were decent enough to keep my interest alongside a genuinely intriguing plot line, but the cast definitely could have used more improvements.

Oh well. At least I can appreciate SEVENS' cast because of this. On that note, I'll tell you what I think about each of our main four characters:

Yuga Ohda: I like him. So far he's a pretty fun protagonist with admirable determination and motivation. He has the fun-loving, laid-back attitude of Jaden and the brains plus tech savvy nature of Yusei and Yusaku. He's genuinely a smart kid and has made some cunning moves across the first five episodes, making him much more interesting as a character. It's also cool he created a freaking whole new dueling format! Get one up'd, Yuya!

Rook (Tatsuhisa Kamijro) - You wouldn't think so at first glance, but this dude's hilarious! Rook's the highly confidant and self proclaimed "#1 Duelist of Goha 7th Elementary". He wishes to use Rush Duels to achieve his own large ambitions - larger than Yuga's I'd argue! Those larger ambitions are... usually used for comedic moments; did I tell you how great the comedy in this entry is, ha ha! Rook's not merely a joke character either. He puts his money where his mouth is and has an interesting ability which I won't delve into for the sake of spoilers, but uh... his watch is hella sus. NOT A SPOILER; JUST A PREDICTION!

Romin Kirishima - The must have Yu-Gi-Oh! heroine of the group. Romin's a girl with a constant, mysterious aura surrounding her. She claims she's not interested in dueling, but some signs says otherwise. There's also other aspects and actions she's done suggesting she may have a bigger role in the plot, which makes her an interesting character off the bat. Other than the mystery, she's known for being a guitarist in a band called "Roaromin" who has found much success for herself. Yes, we all know what happens with Yu-Gi-Oh! girls, but remember this is written by a different writing team within a different studio, so there's a small speck of hope for Romin to shine brighter than her predecessors. We'll have to wait and see, but she's so far my favorite character! Her episode's also my favorite so far.

Gakuto Sogetsu - The uptight and disciplined student council president of Goha 7th Elementary. Usually these character types try their damnest to stay out of trouble and keep the hero in line before inevitably getting dragged into their shenanigans, which is kinda still true for Gakuto but also not really. Gakuto doesn't really try that hard to escape Yuga's shenanigans and seems to genuinely find Rush Duels engaging early on, making him a more fun character and different from his archetype. He's also really funny! His character's so dramatic that I can't help but laugh! He surprisingly became my favorite character after the first episode due to the scenes he stole with his personality and I love it! He has dropped in favoritism for me though since I got to the know the other three better and Gakuto so far hasn't matched what I thought made him so great in episode 1. Still, he's so far a pretty good character and not a one note archetype you expect him to be.

Overall, I seriously love the characters here and am excited to go on this 2-3 year journey with them!

Enjoyment - 10:

If it wasn't obvious, I absolutely love this anime! It has a lot of heart and personality, and genuinely has engaged me throughout all the five episodes using both its characters and duels. I'm all for this ride! ... But of course I'm not stupid.

I know there's still a chance for this entry to flop. I originally felt the same way with VRAINS as I found its beginning very strong, intriguing, and different from past Yu-Gi-Oh! entries, but unfortunately, I must say it fell flat on its face one too many times... But nothing will get solved with pessimism. I'll enjoy this anime for what it is, likely until its ending. It has hooked me so far and has the potential to be something great!

I know it's different, but different doesn't always equal bad.

Overall:

Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS thus far is such a treat! The characters are fun, it looks good for the most part, and the story has a lot of potential going for it. There are some flaws. As said, the art and animation can be inconsistent, but only sometimes and doesn't hinder the experience for me.

Despite its appearance, this is still Yu-Gi-Oh!, guys - in all its fun-loving glory. I hope anyone reading this will consider giving it a chance. Those who already have, I hope you stick around, and if you don't, that's okay; nothing's made for everyone.

I can't wait for SEVENS' return and see the vision Studio Bridge has for this entry!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens is the seventh entry in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise (I don’t count the 1998 Toei anime).
My reason for making this review is to incite people to give a chance to the series despite the low rating and the hate surrounding it because while it may not be what hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh! fans wanted, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad anime!
I will be making broad comparisons with other series in the franchise since most of the people that know Sevens are Yu-Gi-Oh! fans but the show is totally stand-alone.
It is important to note that as of the time I am writing this, there is no ... legal way to watch the show outside of Japan and Korea which can be a turn-off.

Story:
Sevens’ story is pretty simple given that the anime is aimed at a younger audience. Oudou Yuuga, the main character, is a student of Seventh Goha Elementary School who feels that the current format of dueling is too rigid. Therefore, he thought up a new format called Rush Duels by himself. With the help of his classmates Luke and Gakuto, he manages to install Rush Duels in Goha city’s system. From there, his goal is to promote Rush Duels and protect them from the people opposed to the change.
Rush duels are different from Master duels which were used in all of the other shows. In this format, you can draw until you have 5 cards in your hand every turn and you can normal summon as much as you want. The extra deck summoning methods are also gone for most of the show which makes duels much simpler. I know a lot of competitive Master duel players hate Rush duels and dismiss the anime for this reason. I can’t blame them but I think they’re a nice change of pace. However, it’s true that the early duels aren’t that good and kind of predictable since they’re used as tutorials.
The anime employs a 13 to 15-episode arc structure which has its ups and downs. On one side, that means that arcs and duels never drag on too long so you don’t really have time to get bored. On the other side, 13 episodes isn’t a lot of time to develop new characters and plot lines. This is a problem in multiple arcs but especially in the 4th one which is a tournament arc.
Another thing to note is that unlike other Yu-Gi-Oh! shows, Sevens doesn’t drop plot lines and likes to make seemingly unimportant details important later on which I definitely appreciate. It’s also a comedy-based show with very few life-or-death situations so don’t go in with the wrong expectations or you could be disappointed.

Art:
The biggest change going from Studio Gallop who made the previous shows in the franchise to Studio Bridge was dropping the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! chara-designs. I do like the old designs better but while they may seem generic at first glance, Sevens’ designs aren’t bad either. My main issue is that they were probably changed because the old ones were too complicated to animate but the animation hasn’t improved. The show never looks horrible but there aren’t a lot of sakuga moments either which is a shame. It’s not that much of a surprise though since Bridge has never done any great shows animation-wise.

Sound:
Every Yu-Gi-Oh! anime has a good soundtrack and Sevens is no exception. It doesn’t reach the heights of 5D’s or Arc-V but I really like Romin, Luke and Neil’s themes in particular.
The 1st opening is very catchy which fits with the tone of the show. As for the 2nd one, it’s more of a classic shonen opening which works as well. The 1st ending is the school anthem sung by the cast which is cute and the 2nd one is a comfy upbeat song. Overall, I like all the theme songs but my favorite is still the 1st opening.
There are also two insert songs which is pretty cool.
The vocal performances are great both in comedic and serious moments. As usual with Yu-Gi-Oh!, there are a lot of new seiyuus so their performances stand out even more, in this case the highlight being Ishibashi Hiiro as Yuuga. At first I didn’t like his voice that much but he really improved over the course of the series and in the end his performance fits Yuuga perfectly.

Character:
Oudou Yuuga: Yuuga is a kind, calm and intelligent character who makes deductions to solve problems on his own. He’s the inventor of Rush duels and unlike past protagonists his goal is for everyone to have fun, not to be the best duelist. He’s a pleasant character to watch and even though he can feel kind of underused there are big moments that remind you that he’s the main character.
Kamijou Tatsuhisa aka Luke: Luke is the deuteragonist of the show. He’s a self-centered, naive and pretty dumb elementary schooler but he’s very good at dueling and he comes through for his friends when it counts. His goal is to become the King of Duels and there are a lot of mysteries surrounding him. Luke is by far the most hated character of the show from what I’ve seen online since he can be annoying and the creators gave him a lot of screen time, especially in the second half. I can’t deny that Luke being my favorite character might have improved my enjoyment of Sevens which is why I felt the need to say it here.
Kirishima Romin: The main female lead. Romin is a guitarist for the school band called RoaRomin. Initially, she has no interest in dueling and hides secrets from the rest of the group. She’s by far the best treated female lead in Yu-Gi-Oh! history with meaningful wins all the way to the end of the show. Her character arc is nothing special but it’s fine for what it is.
Sougetsu Gakuto: Gakuto is the student council president and the heir of the Sougetsu clan. In the 1st episode he’s very over the top and kind of obnoxious but he quickly becomes likable as the straight man of the group.
These are the main four characters and most of the story revolves around their dynamic. The show does a good job showing you that they’re a group of friends despite their differences.
There are a lot of side characters but the most important ones are the rivals for the first 3 story arcs: Roa, the singer of RoaRomin, Neil, the administrator of Goha city’s system and Asana, the president of Sixth Goha Elementary School’s machine cavalry club. They each get their own character arc which are for the most part satisfying to follow.
The rest of the cast is relatively well-used with each character making at least one other appearance after their debut episode. Female characters also get treated like normal characters which shouldn’t be something I have to make note of, but the way they were handled in other Yu-Gi-Oh! anime was so bad that this is an improvement.

Enjoyment:
Overall, I had a lot of fun watching Sevens. It has a lot of flaws and I wasn’t a big fan of the last arc but the lighthearted tone was a nice change of pace and the cast was generally treated better than in past entries. If you want to watch a series that doesn’t take itself too seriously, I would recommend it!

Thank you for reading!

Ok, I'm gonna tell everyone who sees this shows score on this sight and give them this piece of advice: DO NOT TAKE THIS SCORE TO HEART.

This show is probably the funniest and fun Yu-Gi-Oh! series ever, but of course because of it looking different it has been prematurely trashed by the Yu-Gi-Oh! community.

Aside from the art style not looking like the previous seasons, the characters in this show are also a bit younger as well. That of course causes people to immediately dismiss the show as well, because apparently children can't be the star in a show aimed towards children about playing ... a children's card game.

The third reason for this shows unfortunate premature hatred is of course the new formatting, Rush Duels. Now here is what I find to be interesting about this game that is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the main game format, which is: The cards actually have balanced and reasonable effects and costs that counter balance the games insane pacing. No, "I summon this easy to summon monster which lets me summon another monster from my deck and then it can destroy as many cards you control equal to the monsters I have on my side of the field blah blah blah-" these cards are actually have effects that make this game feel like it's freed itself from the insane OP fest that it's become over the years. Normal summoning is actually an important part of the game again, both players have a far chance of making a comeback each turn, and you can actually strategize again without having to rely on broken cards.

Rush Duels can actually make the game fun again without having to use meta decks!

Story wise, again it's a breath of fresh air in comparison to the previous Yu-Gi-Oh! series, in which it doesn't take itself too seriously. No saving the world with cards games, no one is dying from card games, and no magic BS.

The show is basically about Yuga Oudo, the protagonist of this series, who feels as though dueling has become restrictive and dull. So in order to make the game feel free and fun again he creates a new kind of dueling, Rush Duels. In this world though, dueling is over seen by the Goha Corporation, who are essentially a giant corporation that have tight grip over dueling and duelist. They can terminate duelist accounts without difficulty and thus preventing them from ever dueling with duel disk ever again. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but this is Yu-Gi-Oh! after all so dueling means everything to the people of this world. Goha sees Yuga's Rush Duels as an abomination and are set out in destroying it.

The story really is a 6 or 7 right now, it's entertaining and they have had some amazing episodes, but nothing too of the wall in terms of the plot has happened yet. That being said it has been getting more intriguing as it continues. It's only 30 episodes in, so we still have a good ways to go.

Please, anyone who is interested in this show, give it a shot. Don't just watch 3-4 episodes and declare it bad, because have any of the previous ones been great in just a few episodes? Watch it all the way through till the end and decide then, because this show will surprise you.

When I first saw the opening for Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens, I hated it. I despised it. I vowed to myself I'd never watch it. Twenty four episodes later and I'm very thankful I managed to betray myself; going into it with a very open mind. Let's first address why I thought I wouldn't like it.

The Cast:
Having the creator of sailor moon to design characters didn't really fit Yu-Gi-Oh! for me, so I initially didn't like the designs of anyone besides Romin Kirishima.

The Themes:
Yu-Gi-Oh's Lighter hearted seasons almost always receive the most backlash, (looking at you Zexal I) and as the audience grows older every generation ... they expect some kind of recognition with darker themes, hence why 5Ds is the second highest rating past the original series, it's the sense of dread and mystery that makes the anime interesting. Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens, up until the most recent episodes, (23-24) had none of that.

I fell for my own confirmation bias that the entire show would just be washed over and have no flare to it. Whilst the story is mediocre at best thus far, it's showing promise of developing. Originally, as I stated, I hated the characters. But as the shows first few episodes are episodic to get us used to different characters, the four main cast are now among my favourites. Yuga recently (and I won't say how) went into a depressive state, and searched an unlikely person to befriend. The character interactions in this are wonderful, they're fleshed out with reams of personality.

It's important to see this anime as more of a comedy, above much else. When you view it that way, rather than going in expecting DM or 5ds 2.0, it's a lot more enjoyable. Over 24 episodes thus far the cast have grown so much, especially Romin Kirishima, and I'm extremely interested to see more of unlikely allies Mimi Atachi and Roa.

Overall, if you can stomach a first few episodes with an open mind to let the characters grow on you, you won't mind the comedy of the series half as much, and you'll grow to appreciate the themes each character presents.

First of, if the newest anime of an entire series is different to its predecestors, it doesnt mean its bad, but lots fans will mostlikely downvote it just because its different

and after that note, i rate yu gi oh sevens as mostlikely one of the better yu gi oh's around, But i dont recommend it as the first, second or even third series to watch.

soo to the point, why do i like it? Simple, its because its fun. no high stakes, no huge villans, characters playing the card game for fun and not for Saving thousands of people/souls/worlds?.. and thats... the main reason why do ... i like sevens, because its a great break from unnecesarly huge stakes that ruin the experience.

Soo starting with story (soo some spoilers ahead)
Like i said, it doesnt have unnecesarly huge stakes, soo far the most stakes were about Deleting the Rush duel mode which the protagonist yuuga created because he wanted to have more fun playing the game.. and they succeded just for the mode to get instaled back once again. Will the world end? will everyone die? Absouletly not, but soo far its still fun and engaging.

With characters they're ok, but they got lots of space for deveelopment and soo far they used quite a lot of it pretty well Even for some side characters, "villans" aand it still doesnt look like they will ruin the character of the main heroine(which happened alot in.. like most of the older series)
Main cast is fun to watch
the side cast are also pretty ok
even villans soo far were fun to watch

Soo... the most important part of every yu gi oh series, how duels are written.
soo far... i like them, they're fun, constant back and forth, we can get surprised alot and whats pretty important, they are much harder to predict compared to the previous series, and thats what lower stakes allows sevens to do. Lesser stakes makes it possible for everyone to have more character developmeent, battles are less perdictable, and you can still see great, fun duels..
Also the fact that characters draw up 5 cards instead of 1 each turn makes it less possible for stupid "i drew that 1 specific card that sucks but in this ultra specific situation is amazing" situations... actualy Yuuga managed to pull something like that off and still lost soo that was a nice surprise.

Soo to end the review: Fun yugioh, great break from the trainwreck that was arc-v and kinda disapoiting vrains.

This is so underrated here... just give it an opportunty.

Maybe rush duels are not so deep, but the characters are funny and the story is getting better, the art is ok anyways I prefer old style and old monsters.

I tihink the anime needs better villains, anyways most part is comedy for now, so I don´t care.

The main characters and their friends are nice and they are getting better duels too.

The ost is great, but I would like new opening/ending soon.

... Just watch this if you are a general yugioh fan or you don´t know what to watch this season.
If you are new to yugi better start with older seasons, those are great too.

At first i was rly sceptical about Yugioh Sevens. I thought this was a bad joke compared to what we had before but as a sworn long time Yugioh fan i wanted to at least try it out.

So i went in with 0 expectations and to my suprise: it was really fun. I started enjoying it before even realising and for the first time in forever i feel so addicted to a anime that i can barely wait a week for the next episode.

What overall caught me was propably the unique humour and the feeling of never knowing what comes next. I think we all ... learned after ZeXal and Arc-V to never judge a Yugioh series on his first childish loking style, and i see great potential for a good story in this. We didnt get many hints yet what is still to come but they surely let us puzzle out a lot.

What i also really enjoy is the characters. Most sidecharacters are over the top, similar to the first fights in ZeXal, and the main characters are very unique. I love how they made Yuuga basically a mix out of Yusei and Yuma which fits suprisingly well. And Ruke/Rock is at one hand a great comedic relieve and on the other hand has the potential to become a great duelist.

And i love the system of Rush Duels. I know its debated a lot, some hate it and some love it. But the amount of strategies you can use with this is insane. In a very short amount of time the Duel heats up entirely and you can defeat your opponent in 1 turn if you use the possibilities of rush duels correctly. Its a Duel without any breaks because you cant summon anymore or you dont have hand cards. i think we all know how annoying it can be when both players run out of handcards

So all in all: give it a try. i see a great future for this showand you shouldnt be too scared by the low ratings from many people. Like i said before, we had that with ZeXal and Arc-V as well ;) they will cool down once the story developes

The ending was everything!
It's the first time I dare to say that despite the obvious appeal towards a much more younger audience this is probably the best if not one of the top 3 best endings for a Yu-Gi-Oh show. From the beginning of a new mystery towards the creator of the Sevens Road Magician, to a new lesson to be learned about friendship and having fun which is impactful (specially if you're an adult).
It's no wonder many of us wish we could be children again. The story will make you realize just how special it is to embrace your younger self and ... be a better person.

It is also important to note that this anime isn't perfect by any means, not every character has rich writing, there's lots of comedian purposes for younger audience and you don't see much higher stakes that cause danger to the cast...until the end.

This isn't also your typical and old Yu-Gi-Oh that relies on the same predictable result in every duel because every protagonist has plot armor. I'm sorry but that is more than annoying to me. We finally got a protagonist that feels real and isn't invincible but also isn't dull. Yuga is a smart cookie in every way but he is still as humanly acceptable as possible and that's what I value the most.

Overall, the story is a powerful tale if you pay attention to it. Some episodes will make you question what happened to the story, but once they get back to the main focus you will understand how the writers fused both a good writing and a good time for kids.

Rush Duels are as fun as they look like but there are still older Yu-Gi-Oh players that won't embrace it and that's just the way it is.

The soundtrack for this anime is surreal whenever there is a serious situation going on. It is just that good.

My rating would definitely be somewhere around 9/10 if it wasn't for a few weaker moments and characters that made it difficult to have a full joyful experience but it is still a great story to be told.


Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens is much more than a Yu-Gi-Oh anime, is the tale of a brave and kind-hearted Yuga on his way to the road of victory! Thank you SEVENS!