Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Duel Monsters

I think the fact that YuGiOh (along with Pokemon) was the first anime I ever watched is enough to give this series a 10. That and the fact that this is one of the very few solid English dubs out there.

Great story, plot, ingenius card game (think about it, Kazuki pulled the entire YuGiOh ruleset out of his ass and it's incredible!), along with enjoyable dialogue make this series a 10/10. Honestly, if you've never seen YuGiOh and you're on MyAnimeList to decide if you should watch it, then go ahead and do it. You've been missing out.

Yugioh is an anime about card games, that’s what most people see when they watch it. I’ve heard it called the best worst series ever. What people fail to see is the intense character development that happens over a course of 224 episodes. The series started out with no card games at all. The story is about a kid named Yugi who is shorter than average, insecure, geeky and picked on most of the time. For 8 years he works on a puzzle that his grandfather found in Egypt. Upon finishing it, He is possessed with an ancient spirit ... who at first appears to have evil intentions. A main key to this story is that this spirit, “yugi’s other self” (yami in English) has no memory of his name or where he came from. Through these battles Yugi matures and becomes a strong, dependant person, gains friends and learns to stick up for himself. It’s amazing when you compare the very last episode yugi to the very first season 0 yugi. Because the series is 200 something episodes, this change is gradual and almost unnoticeable.
The characters are unique and easy to warm up to. You’ll end up liking a lot of them and hate to see them leave in the end.

The animation varies from episode to episode. While episodes directed by Takahiro Kagami (Death note’s lead animation director for most episodes) look smooth and beautifully drawn, others are complete crap. Also, each artist interprets the characters differently so they change style episode to episode.

The music is written by Shinkichi Mitsumune and is the thing I miss the most in the English version. Shinkichi uses a lot of violin in his songs giving the series a melancholic vibe. The soundtrack is memorable and I love listening to it by itself. Some songs are sad and forlorn while others are upbeat and jazzy. I could go on and on just talking about the music.

Even though I have a lot of good things to say about this show, it has its down-falls . The card game can get boring and over done and I end up skipping all of them. Sometimes that ends up being a whole episode. Sometimes it feels like it’s not worth it. There are a lot of filler episodes and two filler seasons.
The English adaption also leaves a LARGE gap between the uncut viewers and the ones that grew up on the 4kids edited version. I disliked the series when it was showing on TV but loved the Japanese. The changes are that drastic.
Some people view this series as childish and down right silly, but they are only looking on the outside. Yugioh has its deep and serious side about how the mind works, human nature and perhaps a bit of schizophrenia.

Over all, I never thought I would like yugioh and now it’s my favorite anime. Just look past the silly card game and you WILL love this series too.
And please oh please, I beg of you. If you still don't want to give this anime a chance, at least look up the sound duels. They are definitely worth your time.

Overview:

Time for another highly nostalgic review! Today, I will be looking back on Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, which was very popular during the late 1990s and early 2000s. This was the first Yugioh anime to be widely released outside Japan, but was actually the 2nd anime adaptation of Kazuki Takahashi's original manga. The first anime adaptation actually followed the manga faithfully and was later released as "Season Zero" in the West. Is an anime worse when it doesn't follow the manga? Honestly, the answer depends on what anime you're talking about. The first Hellsing anime was vastly inferior to its manga counterpart, so it was very ... fortunate that Hellsing Ultimate was made to correct that mistake. However, the Trigun anime was actually far better in my opinion than the original manga. In the case of Yugioh, I would argue that they REALLY should have stuck to the manga.

Plot:

The plot of Yugioh begins by introducing us to our protagonist Yugi Muto. Yugi is a constantly bullied, awkward teen that lives with his grandfather, who owns a store selling various puzzles and games. One day, Yugi manages to solve an ancient Egyptian puzzle and is possessed by the spirit of an ancient Pharaoh, who shares Yugi's body for the rest of the anime. The phrase "Yugioh" means "Game King" so obviously the plot revolves around games, which Yugi happens to be VERY good at, since he grew up in a game store. However, here is where the first major difference occurs between the manga and Duel Monsters. In the manga and Season Zero, both Yugi and the Pharaoh are highly skilled at ALL games, not just the official Yugioh trading card game. The manga version of Yugi could kick your ass in Magic the Gathering, Chess, or Monopoly. It doesn't matter what kind of game because he is the freaking KING OF GAMES. In Duel Monsters, the only game even featured in the entire show is the official trading card game. Why? The manga and Season Zero were made before the existence of the trading card game. The purpose of the manga was to tell a coming of age story in which the power of friendship overcomes obstacles and helps Yugi mature into an adult. The point of Yugioh Duel Monsters however is first and foremost to sell merchandise to kids and act as a giant advertisement for the card game. One of the first cartoons I ever loved was Ninja Turtles in the early 1990s, which also existed primarily to advertise toys to children. However, despite its MANY flaws, Ninja Turtles actually had some things it did well. It had fun and goofy characters, silly but enjoyable voice acting, and was extremely entertaining to young audiences in the late 80s early 90s vs. other cartoons of that time. Blatant and shameless commercialism doesn't automatically make a show worthless, but it has to be something BEYOND just that. Duel Monsters sacrifices the quality of the plot, the development of the characters, and the presentation of the main message all to focus on advertisement.

So if the entire show is watching characters play a trading card game, does it at least advertise the card game effectively? Does it teach young Yugioh players how to build good decks, use good strategy, etc.? HELL NO! Duel Monsters doesn't give a FUCK about the rules or actually teaching kids how to play. Instead it just focuses on shiny explosions and dramatic facial expressions interspersed with pan shots of minor characters doing nothing! Basically like a poor man's version of DBZ. Imagine I wrote my own anime based off a card game I used to play obsessively and was pretty damn good at, Magic the Gathering. The entire show revolves around characters playing Magic, but the MC has the ability to cheat his ass off and summon a creature like Akroma Angel of Wrath on turn 2 without the requisite mana...simply because fuck you! Would anyone watch that? I wouldn't.

Art:

The character designs were pretty cool in the late 1990s if you had never seen an anime before. That was actually one of the main reasons why the show got popular on Kids WB. Anime was a rare novelty for most American viewers when Yugioh came out, so people watched it simply because it looked different and cool. The animation is pretty mediocre since virtually the entire show is characters standing still and contemplating their next move in dramatic fashion. When there IS an explosion or some form of actual movement the animation is OK for its time, but hasn't really aged that well. This is made worse in the US version thanks to 4kids and their ludicrously stupid and often EXTREMELY lazy edits and censorship, which simply make the anime look like crap!


Overall:

Yugioh is a nostalgic anime for plenty of us that grew up in the late 1990s along with Pokemon and Digimon, but honestly this show isn't very good and it never was. If you LOVE the trading card game, you will probably just be frustrated by how badly this show butchers it. If you love anime about friendship and overcoming your awkward teenage years, you are way better off watching Season Zero or reading the original manga. This anime is basically a giant children's advertisement that isn't even a good advertisement! In summary, if you aren't old enough to remember this anime, don't bother digging it up. It isn't worth it.

Not another card driven game! That is what I thought going into this. I had just gotten over my Pokemon and Digimon phase. So upon seeing this I quirked an eyebrow. However I gave it a whirl and watched it, and by god I actually enjoyed it. The characters are so much more dynamic than most of these genre of shows. There is a plot behind all the games (read the manga for more). The most interesting twist to me was the Egyptian background. That intrigued me to no end to see how exactly that would play out. Surprisingly to me it played out nicely, ... tying the characters together from their pasts to the here and now.

There are a few arcs that also stand out above the rest. The first being the Battle City arc, where we first meet Malik Ishtar who is a young Egpytian boy. The Doma (Doom in the dub) arc that present to us Dartz, the King of Atlantis and his ragtag henchmen. The last arc, that deals with the origins of Yami Yuugi is also the best, and the one I am most fond of.


Art and animation quality actually go up as the series goes on. The beginning characters didn't always look their best, but as it progressed the characters started to look good as well. So if you are trying to get someone into a card game based show, dip their feet into anime show them this. However, if you want the more serious and true nature of the show watch it subbed.

Now, when I say ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the opening – with Yugi saying ‘It’s time to Duel’ and the D in Duel just echoes off into infinity… After all, silly little card games is all the show’s about right?

Ha ha…

WRONG.

Sixteen year-old Yugi Mutou (I’ll use their Japanese names if you don’t mind) inherits a golden box from his grandfather, inside are pieces that form a puzzle.

After eight years of struggle and determination, Yugi finally finishes this puzzle, but unknown to him are the deep secrets locked within it. Including a 3000 year old spirit, who looks just ... like him, may I add!

With the help of his friends – and sometimes even his bitter rivals, Yugi and his spirit friend, who he at the beginning dubs ‘The Other Me’, (Mou Hitori no Boku) go on many journeys, fight many duels and meet countless people that in the end all return back to the place that these fights began. The place that ‘The Other Yugi’ came from.

Egypt.

Now now… don’t start twitching when I say that. I mean it. When ‘The Other Yugi’ figures out his past life with the help of his friends, it brings them to Egypt.

But don’t let me spoil anymore of it for you! You’ll have to watch to find out all the details that happen.

I have one thing to say for anybody who has watched the show in English, or who hasn't watched the show at all: please, please, please, please watch the Japanese version.
The differences are astronomical. When I first starting watching Yugioh as a kid, I loved the American version - as I got more into my teenage years and more and more into anime, I started to watch the show in Japanese. That's when I truly fell in love with it!
I love the complexities in the characters and the niches in their relationship. While the story is really very good, it's the characters ... that make the show outstanding.

I don't know how anyone can watch this show unless they are little boys. This is a sad excuse of an anime. When I realized that they were playing with cards and acting very serious, I just had to turn off my TV. I went outside and read a book and spent my time on better things. This anime is horrible. The art is ugly too. Not recommended at all.

"This card has 1500 attack power"
"That means whenever I attack the enemy player with this card, they will lose 1500 life points."
"And thats a good thing because if the enemy player runs out of life points, I win the game!"
"Wow thats amazing, I guess that means that the enemy player will have to try his hardest to not get hit by your card."
"Thats right. It just comes to show how powerful this 1500 attack power card is."

*Match starts*

"Oh no, I'm about to get hit by that 1500 attack power creature."
"Aaaaahh, I've was hit and I'm pretending that being hit by a virtual creature in a ... virtual card game has somehow caused me physical pain"

"Haha yes I got him, now I just need to do that for a few more turns, and I'll have won thanks to my powerful 1500 attack power creature."



Now repeat all of that for 220 episodes.

First off this was one of the first animes i ever watched.Back then i didn't even know what anime was but it didn't matter to me the only thing i cared about was how it looked and how people at school were playing the card game.So the reasons for liking this anime is because the characters are well developed throughout the show and you get to see different views of the characters and i mean EVERY character for example Yugi (Yami or Atem) is the heroine of the story but we really don't know about his past until later on...

Anyway you eventually figure out how ... his mind (soul) got trapped inside the puzzle and how darker secrets are revealed...Anyway people should watch the Japanese version of this anime because there's alot of content that 4kids took out to show to a younger audience and even the anime has alot of content that the manga doesn't for example...Pegasus actually dies because Bakura pulls out his Millenium Eye and then Bakura licks the blood off the eye.....yeah it's pretty gross i know but it portrays the kind of character Bakura would be like in the future evil and not trustworthy except that his counter part is quite the opposite of him.

The art is well made because of the artwork of the monsters and how their attacks reflect the monster.The main characters are well drawn and you got to like Yugi's hair! xD

The sound is of a good quality and the voices in the english dubbed version actually match the mouth movement o.o.The voices also sound matched to the character and their personality...even the insane villains. But since it's an english dubbed version from 4kids some voices may seem familiar to you from other shows or animes.For example Kaiba's voice is one of the annoucer guys that says which anime is up next on the 4kids channel..i was loled at that because he says Yugioh is up next... and then his voice is heard a few minutes into the anime xD.

So overall the enjoyment is great which is why it is one of the more popular animes in North America. So while you are watching this anime you could get so into it that you might want to try and buy that rare legendary card you see in the show.

So overall i'm going to rate this anime an 8/10 because there are too many times when they develop the chracters over and over again...they usually do this during a duel so it gets very annoying because you want to see what cards they are going to play not how sad Tea is because she's afraid that Yugi will lose the duel -_-. So yeah you should also check out the sequels to this anime like Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's because it gives a whole different twist to the kinds of characters that the anime Yu-Gi-Oh can develop as well as fantastic artwork to the monsters.

I actually started watching Yu-Gi-Oh! After having seen the GX edition to the series. The reason for this was actually, Yu-Gi-Oh! didn't air on tv here exept for GX.. But I loved it anyways and that made me check out this anime.
And I Must say I am rather pleased and glad I took my time to watch this.

What's mere fun turns into a nightmare in this classic Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime.
A Cardgame unidentical to any others..
Duel Monsters is the new cardgame created and probably the most popular one ever as there are held contests and tournaments about it.

Yugi Muto is just your average boy, Until one ... day he recieves a puzzle from his grandpa whom contained something noone would have expected.. The soul of the ancient egyptian pharaoh. But what's more, He can't seem to have any memories or recall anything about his past. Dreams turn into nightmares as this tale about Friendship, Heartbreak and Monsters unfolds..
As the show goes on it will come with new twists and ordeals along the way, Yu-Gi-Oh! Is one of that kind of anime who can keep you watching all night.
It pulls you inn so you won't be able to stop watching.
New friends, New Enemies and New Places to go..

The show will build out in ways noone would have seen coming as you get longer into the show. Not to much romance but there are some mildly..
I found the show rather addicting and I was almost too fond of it as the show left me crying my eyes out more than once in the show.

Do you think its time to watch an anime about a cardgame like no other?
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters is the anime for you..

''-Believe in the Heart of the Cards''

When I first heard of "Yu-Gi-Oh!", I wasn't that interested about it, but when I finally a few episodes, I wanted to know what happened next. Sooner or later, I became a fan.

The characters are very driven in their strengths and abilities and it doesn't center around the card game all the time. It centers around the themes of fate vs. destiny and mysteries of one's past. I found most of them quite intriguing and enjoyable to hear and watch.

The antagonists are the most interesting since they have their own motives and agendas, so it's a mystery to what their true objective is. The voice ... actors are amazing and have a lot of talent. I've watched both the English and Japanese versions and have enjoyed both. So, if you want a anime with characters and action, I'd recommend Yu-Gi-Oh!

It's time to d-d-d-d—d-d-d-d-d-d-do a review! *checks that off the overdone memetic references list*

Every dubbing company has their golden goose: FUNimation has Dragon Ball Z. ADV Films had Evangelion. Animaze had Cowboy Bebop. 4KIDS had two: Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, although it was the latter that defined their dubs.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is most well-known for being about card games, although the series originally was just a dark shounen that used games in place of the typical shounen battles. Indeed, “Yu-Gi-Oh!” directly translates to “King of Games!”, and arguably it's kept that title, at least when it comes to game-related anime. The franchise as a whole had been in ... Japan for a few years before the second anime was brought over by 4KIDS, the first episode airing on Kids' WB just mere weeks after 9/11. What does this have to do with this show? Nothing, really, but I thought the timing was oddly interesting. Kids take comfort in their favorite things, cartoons being one of them, and it was a scary, confusing time for children; I know it was for nine-year-old me, and Kids' WB was one of my escapes. The voice actors had to have at least known of this, so perhaps this could explain the influx in performances, in how this was the best we've heard from them at the time. So tuning in that one Saturday morning and watching the premiere had to be mesmerizing to children from how over-the-top everything was next to the cool monster designs and the Egyptian themes (at least in the beginning), and big hair. Not to mention the friendship and “heart of the cards!” speeches, which had some actual meaning at that time in the anime.

And then, with a cry of “Yu-Gi-OHHHHHHHHHH!”, Dan Green climbed his way to stardom, and Yu-Gi-Oh! quickly became a smash hit—while not to the same worldwide phenomenon as it was with Pokémon, it was just as a big name on the playground, even more-so once the merchandise (e.g. the actual card game) was released. It enjoyed that luxury for a few years, but it made the rest of my elementary school years a little bit interesting.

STORY: The first episode begins with a narration about how 5,000 years ago (from the original 3,000), a pharaoh sealing away dangerous “shadow games” using Millennium Items, and how a boy named Yugi Muto (well, Moto in the dub) solved the Millennium Puzzle that houses a spirit that now shares his body. But outside of that, it's... hard to pinpoint a story for Duel Monsters as it goes through different changes in narrative with each new arc.

The anime picks up where Toei's anime leaves off—somewhat—meaning it completely ignores it ever happened, forcing Yugi's story to be shoved into condensed flashbacks throughout the Duelist Kingdom arc. It's also why Seto Kaiba has a bland brown mullet instead of his vibrant green in the original, though his psychotic nature carried over in the beginning because he still had a hate-boner for Yugi, but since the Death-T arc wasn't included, no one who hasn't read the manga noticed it. Besides, all everyone remembers from the first episode is “Exodia, OBLITERATE!” and Kaiba screaming as his three signature Blue-Eyes White Dragons explode and he gets a mind crush which allowed him to heal his heart over time—somehow, since the anime didn't bother explaining it.

But basically, the bare bones of the story is about Yugi Moto and his friends, the delinquents Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor, and his best friend and crush Téa Gardner, playing a card game called Duel Monsters in such seriousness against other duelists who range from just wanting to be the best duelist in the Duelist Kingdom or the entire world, to those who legit want to take over the world (or even destroy it in severe cases). They sometimes befriend these duelists such as Mai Valentine, Duke Devlin and Maximillion Pegasus (oops, “spoilers” I guess), or become enemies like with Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, two characters who honestly don't have much importance after the Battle City arc, but the Waking the Dragons filler arc tried to give them something.

Anyhoo, moving on, the main catalyst for why these duels keep happening, however, is because of the Millennium Items, such as the Millennium Puzzle Yugi has. At first, he was unaware of the spirit, later to be known as Yami Yugi, possessing him in times of need, but eventually, Yugi and his friends come to terms with and get to know Yami more. Duelist Kingdom puts more emphasis on the Duel Monsters card game than with the Millennium Items, but it gradually brings them into the plot and sheds more light on their secrets, what happened in ancient Egypt, and Yami himself. It just takes a good 200 episodes and lots more characters and monsters (such as the Egyptian God cards) to get to that reveal.

Needless to say, as interesting as the plot can be, and some arcs are better than others, be prepared to go through some silly bullshit with some occasional good twists (if you call them that nowadays). Hope you like holographic card games and endless prattling on of how cards work in play, because there's enough to drive you mad.

CHARACTERS: For a show about card games that was an advertisement for merchandise, the large cast of characters are surprisingly diverse (mostly in design as this show practically popularized anime hair—intentional on the creator's part, funnily enough) and well-remembered, for better or for worse. The main cast seemingly have one-note personalities, but they show hidden sides of themselves through backstory or when they're pushed into a corner during a duel. Yugi, as the main character, has motives and developmental growth as the plot was essentially kicked off (via backstory) because he wanted to make friends, and also to become independent. Yami was essentially his “alter ego”, a way for Yugi to be someone he could never be, but could strive to be (once he stopped using the mind crush penalty game as a direct result from being influenced by Yugi's compassion). However, Kaiba is the one who changes the most. Compare from when he literally hospitalized Yugi's grandfather just to get revenge on Yugi to when he had to team up with Yugi to save the world from destruction (at least twice, but fillers “don't count”)—although this was the result of Yami's mind crush taking effect.

Joey gets his fair share of character development, particularly when it comes to being a duelist as he was one of the worst from the start. But with Yugi's help in learning how to make a good deck and strategies, he becomes one of the best duelists in the show, and his duels have the most emotional—to an extent—and meaningful impact as a character. This is due to his determination and eagerness to learn so he could climb to the top in Duelist Kingdom for the sole purpose of getting the prize money to pay for his little sister's eye surgery. As for Tristan and Téa, they can duel, but they're delegated to being cheerleaders instead and they don't get out of that role. Outside of Yugi's circle of friends, we get recurring characters such as Bakura Ryou, Duke, and Mai, though their roles are different depending on the arc.

The antagonists are some of the most popular of the series, starting with Maximillion Pegasus who has remained the most well-known to this day, even if it was only because of how charismatic and foppish he is. Each has their own motives for why they went after Yugi, but they all stem from wanting possession of the Millennium Items. Marik Ishtar was the first in which a villain was legitimately threatening (Yami Bakura would take his place later, though he was basically the driving antagonistic force throughout the series), although his presence also was what changed the tone of the series and foreshadowed what was to come.

(The Virtual World/Noah filler arc interrupted the dark tone—and the Battle City arc in general—to put space between the anime and manga, but did so by bringing back the Big Five, the executives of KaibaCorp who were defeated in a small anime-only arc called “Legendary Heroes”. At the end of it all, it just gave the other characters such as Téa and Tristan one last chance to show them in a duel before they were pushed to the sidelines for the rest of the series. The Waking the Dragons filler arc had a more interesting villain in Dartz and brought in the Orichalcos to keep things tense, but it was dragging itself through the mud at this point.)

But of all the characters in the show, the real stars (let's call them what they are: promoters) are the Duel Monsters themselves, even though they rarely talk. More and more selections are created as the series goes along that there's literally hundreds of monster designs to choose from, many of them unique, and some play actual roles in the plot. Characters have their own signature monsters such as Yugi's Dark Magician and Kuriboh, Kaiba's Blue-Eyes and Battle Ox, Joey's Flaming Swordsman and Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Mai's Harpy Ladies, while Pegasus has a one-of-a-kind deck of toons you don't see anywhere else. In a similar vein, some duelists have themed decks such as Weevil's bug deck, Rex Raptor's dinosaur deck, and one minor but recurring duelist named Mako Tsunami with a water-based deck. If the human characters don't do it for you, perhaps the monsters will, though some monsters do show up less overtime such as Summoned Skull.

ART/ANIMATION: Duel Monsters aired alongside shows like “Love Hina”, “Sakura Wars”, and “Ceres, Celestial Legend”, and it definitely looks like it came from the 2000s. The show became digitally-colored as the series went on without losing its style, even when the designs were updated to the creator's own evolved style where appropriate. Studio Gallop was fresh off of previous projects such as “Kodocha” and “Rurouni Kenshin”, which from a glance, makes sense as to why the style looked the way it did.

Even so, the 2000s was an awkward transition period from cel to digital, and Duel Monsters is a poster child for 2000s anime. Animation bumps did happen in later seasons, but there's honestly nothing special about it. The stilted, oft-times recycled animation and off-model moments have made it an easy target for mockery from just a single screencap, which isn't a positive by any means, but it can entertain the easily-amused. At the very least, I liked the attention to the hair and eyes; again, nothing special.

SOUND: I'm willing to bet you were thinking of the abridged series at this point—if not, you are now. LittleKuriboh may have done a fantastic job, but this isn't about the abridged series. Think back and remember the iconic 4KIDS dub. Where Ash defined Veronica Taylor's career, Yugi defined Dan Green's career, though Eric Stuart has the best of both worlds for having been cast as Kaiba, and he hits it out of the ballpark from the very beginning. The other voice actors can't be left out, either: Wayne Grayson as Joey, Amy Birnbaum as Téa, Frank Frankson as Tristan, Ted Lewis as both Bakuras, Tara Sands as Mokuba, Maddie Blaustein as Yugi's grandpa, Darren Dunstan as Pegasus, and Jonathan Todd Ross as Marik to name a few. Regardless of opinions, they grew into their roles and made them as iconic as they are in the States.

Dan Green in particular is pretty much the voice of the show, it's hard for English-speakers to envision Yugi without him. The magic of editing/different takes be damned, the way he could go from being a young, timid boy to having powerful vocals at the drop of a hat was like whiplash, but only because the deep voice can always turn heads. The first few episodes don't really prove this (this goes for most of the cast regardless), but as it went on, the more in control and iconic he then became. He is solely he reason why Yami Yugi was my first anime crush.

The music gets a brief mention at the end here because yes, the dub replaced the music—but this is where it manages to stand on its own, thanks to being composed by Joel Douek, and the unreleased scores can be heard on YouTube. The opening theme is as iconic to the dub as it gets, though the scores “Transformation”, “Kaiba Hacker” (which became Kaiba's theme music in the dub), “Arise! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!”, and the aptly-named “Orichalcos” are up there as well.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: Let's be honest here: this show has not aged well. In hindsight, with the rise of the Internet and forums and availability of original footage, 4KIDS' dub of Duel Monsters was what brought attention to their infamous editing before One Piece came to the States. It didn't hurt the popularity, however, and if anything, all the attention that was brought to it was what got people interested in it. At the very least, it was 4KIDS who made it the powerhouse it became in the States, and that can't be taken away from them—except by legal force.

It still doesn't make the show easier to watch, however. While I can't speak for the original Japanese, as the series went on, despite the voice-acting becoming more tolerable (with a few exceptions such as Weevil), the script got... wordy. As episodes dragged, the less fun the duels became, and explaining how the cards worked each and every time in between “You just activated my trap card!” or a “Not so fast, I activate this card to counteract your card!” took up too much time that could've been spent on just seeing the cards in action. This could just be the fault of the filler arcs, but character motives didn't have meaningful impact on who they were and why they had to duel—even with the main cast. Though I don't know why I'm complaining about the lack of proper character development in an anime about card games that was designed to sell merchandise. Probably because the characters are some of the more interesting characters in any merchandise-driven show and I hated seeing them going to waste at times.

The nostalgia might just be strong with this one, but even when it was about to crawl to a stop, Duel Monsters still found a way to pick things back up and make duels fun again. Sometimes, an entire episode would go by without a single duel, or at least not with Duel Monsters, and it was just about the characters being themselves. They have a life outside of games, and it's easy to forget Domino City is just a regular, bustling city that HAPPENS to have residents interested in seeing duels and partaking in it themselves for the fun of it. Although we see less and less of Domino High as the series went on, but when you're saving the world with the heart of the cards, school's just not high on the priority list.

It was a long time coming (even after knowing of the ending for a number of years before seeing it for myself), but I'm glad Yu-Gi-Oh! left an impact on me as a child, silly as it may be. The characters make me think of old friends, and I feel welcome in Yugi's own circle of friends, I do have a lot of fun watching them. The outcome of many of these duels are so obvious it's eye-rolling, yet I still like seeing how they turned out. The victories don't feel cheap, and the losses feel like a punishment for not taking the stakes seriously. Some of the monsters are cool, and some of the strategies are clever. Makes me wish I still had kept my deck so I could've learned how to better at being strategic and planning ahead.

It's easy to get into Yu-Gi-Oh! for sure, just like it's easy to fall out of it, but the journey is worth it if you're willingly determined to stick with it to the end, if only to get some closure. Or you can watch it for the memes, whichever works best for you.

This review will be short and to the point.

Yu-Gi-Oh! was one of the very first ever anime titles I watched and I’m currently re-watching it. I have to say I’m surprised to find that it’s more enjoyable now than when I was eight years old probably seeing as I have a much better attention span now. This is my review.

Contains Minor Spoilers

Story
Yu-Gi-Oh! revolves around a game called Duel Monsters which is a card game where players summon mythical monsters and duel against each other. The plot is simple but the more you watch the show the more interesting the games become. The ... rules are never spoon fed to you but after viewing a few episodes you’ll understand everything you need to know about Duel Monsters. There are a whole lot of unexpected turns, great gaming strategies and life or death situations when playing the game. The story as a whole is great. It takes place in the present but focuses on ancient Egypt from time to time and the villains that try to get their hands on the millennium items. Even though the story is really great, the duels themselves are much more enjoyable and interesting.

Art
Characters have crazy hair styles and huge eyes but the design is great, especially the different monsters played throughout the series.

Sound
Yu-Gi-Oh! has a fantastic dub. Some characters have cartoony voices but it fits the sometimes over the top nature of the show. The music sounds like a score from an epic movie, especially when it plays during matches. I just have to say, the loop in the opening is awesome and never gets old.

Characters
Yu-Gi-Oh! has a great cast of characters. The Pharaoh has a Shakespearian quality about him, his voice and the way he talks. His respect for the game makes him seem like a noble samurai playing cards. He cares for his friends and watching him play is always a joy to take in. The supporting cast is fantastic, from Joey who sounds like a Brooklyn resident to bad ass anti-hero Kaiba.

Enjoyment
Yu-Gi-Oh! is just plain fun. The story is gripping, the voice acting is fantastic and the cast is really likeable. If you’re looking for a long fun anime to watch, look no further.

It’s time to d-d-d-d-du-du-du-du-duel.

8/10

I absolutely adore this anime. I remember being 8 years old and rushing home from school to watch my VHS Yu-Gi-Oh! episodes that my mother borrowed for me from the library. I got teased for being a girl and liking this show. Actually, I still do! :)

Story - A teenage boy named Yugi Mutou solves the Millennium Puzzle, which is an ancient Egyptian artifact. The puzzle is possessed by the spirit of an ancient pharaoh (Atem, Yu-Gi-Oh!, King of Games, etc.) The pharaoh remembers nothing of his past, besides the fact that he previously resided in Egypt. Yugi's grandfather owns a game shop, so he ... gets his deck of cards from him. The show is basically about a card game (or Duel Monsters). Yugi wants to help the spirit figure out the truth of his past, so he goes on a quest to find all 7 Millennium items and 3 very powerful cards called the Egyptian God Cards.

Along the way, he travels with his group of best friends, defeats great duelists, and even makes some enemies too.

Art - I really like the art in this anime. I think it fits very well with the series. The character designs are very unique, particularly Yugi's. You couldn't mistake that crazy, spiky, multicolored hair for any other anime character, after all. The monster designs are pretty cool, especially the dragon ones. They look pretty awesome, but a lot of others are cool too. The God Cards look pretty badass, even if the Winged Dragon of Ra is a mega ultra chicken (YGOTAS reference! :P)

Sound - I love all of the openings and endings for YGO. Even the 4Kids one is good. The voice acting is awesome too, and this goes for the English dubbed version as well! It's pretty rare that I actually like the dub as much as the original Japanese version. The background music fits very well with the scenes as well.

Character - The characters in this show are great. Yugi's friends are awesome. I think one of the best characters is Seto Kaiba; he's a really cool rival. He may act like a total douche, but I think on the inside he knows that he and Yugi are friends. Anzu/Tea is kind of pathetic, and I think she was only added so that there would be a female in the main cast. But still, it wouldn't be the same without her. Jonouchi/Joey pretty much won most of the time because of sheer luck, but he still developed a lot throughout the series and by the end of the series he learned a lot. Honda/Tristan? Well, I have no idea what his purpose was. I guess to make Yugi look better. But still, like Anzu, it wouldn't be the same without him. As feminine as they were, Pegasus, Marik/Malik, Dartz, and Yami Bakura were badass villains. Of course, I'm sure you could tell by my username, but Mai is my personal favorite character. :P Even if she didn't win a single card game on screen.

Enjoyment - I enjoyed every last second of this anime. Sure, you could argue that there's too many card games and not enough character development, but it is for a younger audience. When I was little, I didn't notice anything wrong besides the fact that Yugi always wins. I enjoyed this anime so much, that I teared up when I watched the last episode. Luckily, I soon discovered GX so I wasn't as depressed. Basically, this is a very fun anime and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Overall - As you've probably gathered from my review, this is one of my favorite anime of all time and I love it to bits and pieces. It may be just because of nostalgia, but still, it's definitely worth your time.

Despite it being an anime about games, it has one of the most compelling stories, and some of the best character development I've ever seen in an anime. I mean seriously, watching the series again, and having a taste of what their lives where like before the series (Toei's version), I've found that each character has so much significance in the story, and every little detail, like the decks they use, reflect both their character's personality, and the overall arch of the story. And aside from saving the world from ancient magic and supernatural like that, The series invokes a quest for self-actualization, inspired by ... Yugi's wish for friends.
It's almost criminal that 4Kids dubbed this series, because they delivered such beautiful moments between characters so poorly that it ruins the emotion displayed in it. And Yugi's voice cracks where pretty hilarious. Dan Green, what happened in those Episodes?
The actual animation can range from being really great, to being... really, really poor. Some episodes actually gave
This is one of the few that actually made me cry a bit when it got closer to the end. And that's saying something, coming from me. And if you watched from beginning to end, I think you would, too.
The only thing I truly disliked was that the main villain of the series (SPOILERS) didn't have a lot of build up, despite him being there throughout the whole series. I knew Bakura's ring was evil, but somehow he felt so minor until right at the end. That being said, he has grown to be the most intimidating villain I have ever seen in an anime.
Overall, Yu-Gi-Oh! is a fantastically solid series, and even though the english OPs are fun to watch, I wish I could have watched the original Japanese. But either way, the fantastic story overpowers the cheesiness.

I think most people / otaku would be lying if they said they have not enjoyed at least one mainstream Americanized anime show.

Yu-Gi-Oh! In my personal opinion was one of the better translations and it has obviously done pretty well with merchandise and stuff. As a side note the actual game duel monsters is actually very good and I have played a few of the older tag force PSP games.

At this point in time I have seen ALL of the original series and am on the last season of GX (which is also half decent but not better than the this).

Animation

The animation ... is pretty good, as most fanboys probably noticed 4kids did some heavy editing on Yu-Gi-Oh! as the original Japanese version includes guns, knives and even blood! Character designs can often stand out erratically, from Yugi’s hairstyle, to Marik’s evil face. Monster card designs are pretty damn cool I must admit, some monsters just look real dangerous (slifer the sky dragon) and others look ridiculously pathetic (karibo) but its all appropriate.

Sound

Yu-Gi-Oh! Has some VERY humorous dialogue from various characters (Kaiba for example) which are provided by a good cast of English voice actors, this is the main reason why I think Yu-Gi-Oh! did so well in the western part of the world, it all comes together fluently and easy to understand even during technical battle explanations. The English Opening “YOUR MOVE” was quite catchy as well.

Story

Yu-Gi-Oh! Had quite a good story to build from as an adventure type. You had a kid with a double personality which was actually a spirit looking for the millennium items and his own identity, These items could only be obtained by having a shadow duel and (depending on which version you want to believe the original Jap or 4kids) if you lose you basically die. LOL

The card game incorporated into the series (duel monsters) was one made of a combination including strategy, power, good luck and lol “the heart of the cards”. Almost each episode contained duels with various monsters and magic powers which in some cases where cool as hell (Some cards could actually send you to hell-like places lol). It was very interesting to watch and at times humorous. To think a card called toon baby dragon could beat black luster soldier haha thats Yu-Gi-Oh! For ya!

Character

Characters range from good guys to bad guys and there is hardly any between. I found most of the good guys where boring except kiba. It was mostly the bad guys and the duels they provided what made the characters good. I mean Marik & Bakura were pure evil but their threats to peoples lives just made them more interesting. Pegasus was a joker, Kaiba was harsh and Joey Wheeler was just dumb lucky.

Enjoyment

I will say I thoroughly enjoyed watching Yu-Gi-Oh! As I felt it was very entertaining, had a half decent story and had an excellent in-Game idea, unlike many other LAME Americanized Japanese anime e.g. monster rancher, beyblade etc. I felt Yu-Gi-Oh! actually made a good mark on the anime scene IMHO. Yes it had its downsides and it got korny at times but overall it was enjoyable and I saw some excellent / complex battles that actually made sense and could be played on a console with friends in real life.

Value

Value I believe is 50/50 because I feel like other people would either like Yu-Gi-Oh! or hate it so I would have to let the viewer decide. Personally I think it is a good value series ESPICALLY for young adults & kids alike.

Planet Tyro Rating: High Solid B

planettyro.com

I finally got around to watching this series and I got to say I enjoyed it. sure there were times when your were pulling your hair because of a useless side plot but hey what anime doesn't have that. I loved the way the ancient Egyptian culture was shown. and I loved the character's, some of them were useless, like Taya did literally nothing the entire show. and Tristan was funny most of the time but he did pretty much nothing too. This is one of those rare shows where I would recommend the 4kids dub. Although some very noticeable editing is in place ... such as guys pointing their fingers at somebody ( clearly a gun was there before) and some other things. yugi and yami yugi is voiced by dan green and it is a perfect fit as well as eric stuart as seto kaiba ( and what a character he is) I almost cried at the end of the series and I highly recommend the watch.

Like many others of my generation, I've been on a nostalgic Yugioh craze since learning about the new movie that was just released in April this year. While Yugioh will always hold a special place in my heart due to the impact it had on my childhood years, I have purposefully re-watched all 224 episodes of this show with a critical eye and sadly cannot bring myself to give it a higher score.

Unfortunately, Yugioh is a prime example of an amazing premise that suffers from poor execution.

(Also of note, my review will refer to the dub names/situations- although I am aware of the ... changes that 4kids made to the original sub...)

Warning, this WILL be a LONG REVIEW for a LONG anime

Story: (7)

It hurts me to give a score this low to an anime that could have easily deserved a 9 or 10 for its ingenious premise: incorporating ancient Egypt (when do we ever see this?!) into our modern-day 21st century society. Additionally, the whole system of the Duel Monsters card game is incredibly creative! It's hard to believe that one guy is behind all the different monster, spell, and trap cards. *It's important to remember that, in this original Yugioh series, the mangaka Kazuki Takahashi was still trying to figure out the exact rules of the card game that he was essentially creating from scratch at this point in time...so of course it would seem like the characters are cheating because the rules of the actual TCG changed only AFTER the story of Yugioh was complete.*

Also of note, while the dub contains egregious amounts of censoring out violence, I do think that 4kids made a smart move by including the shadow realm. Others may disagree with me, but having to spend an eternity with your mind trapped in a terrifying place sounds like a much harsher punishment than just *death*.

Despite all these promising plot devices, it's impossible to overlook the many facets of the story that are underdeveloped due to much of the background development of our two main characters getting skipped over. This development is extremely important because this particular story only works well if it ultimately centers around both Yuugi and his alter-ego, Yami's, character development. Because this is an adaptation, I wish to look at what the story could have been if it had stayed truer to the manga.

*SPOILERS IN THIS NEXT SECTION*

I do recognize that this adaptation bears no connection to the Toei Yugioh adaptation (also known as season 0) and that the subtitle of the title is DUEL MONSTERS...so of course it would center on the Duel Monsters card game..but I still honestly believe Studio Pierrot missed out because of the decision to leave out the early "school" days arc in which Yuugi was still a timid boy who was bullied at school and the spirit inside the puzzle was a psychopathic sadist akin to a serial killer. Instead the whole anime starts off with Yuugi already surrounded by friends with no signs of a troubled social life.

Also, it would have added so much to the overall plotline if just ONE EPISODE was included early on that explained exactly how Yuugi met his two best bros, Joey and Tristan, in the manga. Studio Pierrot tried to hide bits and pieces of this in the middle of the series (like episode 70ish) of how Yuugi stood up for Joey and Tristan, his two most prominent bullies, when they were getting pummeled by an even bigger bully. Unfortunately many viewers probably won't even reach this point of the show because, due to the way this studio handles this adaptation, the overall premise of Yugioh seems like your typical shounen show in which the main protagonist starts off as a confident kid who is more than ready to accept the call to save the world. Yuugi is supposed to be set apart from the typical shounen genre hero! I will expand on this and pacing more under the character section.

*END OF SPOILERS*

Finally, the pacing of the show varies from good to extremely poor.

The pacing of each episode can seem a little slow/drawn out. Generally the duels could have finished about 10-20 minutes earlier if the characters cut out all their trash-talking...but it's something that can be overlooked when remembering that these characters are competing in tournaments akin to your typical video game or sports match that can't be complete without the trash talk.

The pacing for each season and the series as a whole does a pretty good job for your typical shounen series of building up the suspense to the last big villain duels. The pacing within the seasons of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City grabbed the viewers' attention well. My only gripe is that the Virtual World filler arc occurred right between the Battle City semi-finals and finals which totally threw off the pacing and suspense of the main plotline.

Art: (6)

I'll cover the good first: the character designs are outstanding! Kazuki Takahashi, the mangaka, did an excellent job making these characters STAND OUT from the rest of the anime/manga crowd, and I appreciate the fact that the animation studio chose to stay as close to his original designs as possible. Additionally, the overall bright color palette highlights all the different monster designs and the "shounen-ness" well...

BUT, THIS DOES NOT EXCUSE THE INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN EPISODES. Yes, I do realize that this aired from 2000 to 2004. Yes, I do realize that this is a long-running show which leaves more room for error/inconsistencies between the animation quality of episodes. BUT, the character designs should not change as often as they do!! In many episodes, the characters look much more bishie, the heights of characters fall all over the place, and OHGAWD, can we talk about Yuugi's hair?!? His hair, by nature, is incredibly extravagant... but it's not that huge! In many episodes it makes up HALF OF HIS ALREADY SHORT HEIGHT. -.-

The lack of communication and accountability on Studio Pierrot's part regarding consistency when they asked other studios to animate certain episodes turned out to be an unfortunate oversight. Some episodes look excellent and could fit in right with the shows that are currently airing. Others are animated so poorly that the faces in the background look like sad little blobs with horribly deformed eyes.

Sound: (7)

In regards to the dub: while cheesy with the stuttering (D-x9-Duels!), the opening theme is pretty epic. The ominous melody does prepare viewers to watch a pretty dark (children's) show. The motif within the last 10 seconds of the opening reappears often in the show as the "heroic" theme and becomes very memorable. In general, the American soundtrack really likes to utilize horns, the typical heroic instrument. In all honesty, many songs of the OST sound pretty generic on their own, but they do highlight the characters/certain situations well (i.e. Pegasus' theme, the theme of the Egyptian god cards, Seal of Orichalcos, etc.)

In regards to the sub: the pretty upbeat openings and endings highlight the positivity of Yuugi, our true main character, and his coming-of-age journey with his friends incredibly well. The heavy use of strings in this OST successfully highlights the much more melancholic vibe/atmosphere of the original Japanese characterizations of Yuugi and Yami. Unfortunately, many of the songs do end up sounding quite similar to each other because of the heavy-use of strings.

Overall though, the soundtracks of both the dub and sub fit the respective tone of the series they hope to portray- American: heroic and Japanese more humanistic, melancholic.

Characters: (8)

The characters of Yugioh make the show truly memorable.

I appreciate that Yuugi's group of friends really breaks the typical high school stereotype. Unlike other shounen shows that don't even take place in a setting similar to our mundane real world lives, the friendship dynamic of Yuugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea are a breath of fresh air. Yuugi begins as your typical geeky/nerdy kid who loves games, and somehow becomes best friends with the class thug (Joey) and the typical cool/jock guy (Tristan).

Both Joey and his sister Serenity receive a lot of character development and it's great to see how their unfortunate life situations begin to turn around due to Yuugi's influence.

Tristan doesn't get nearly as much development, but we do get to see him as a cool guy with a heart of gold that will do anything for his friends.

Finally, Tea. While she doesn't get a lot of development per se...(due to the fact that the entire first "school" arc of the manga was not adapated so we never get to see her staring personality) She does help push Yuugi and his friends forward when duels get rough. In the sub she is nearly not as cheesy with her friendship speeches. Instead she actually mixes her encouragement up with perseverance and "fighting spirit" words. Unfortunately, Tea lucked out on her development from more selfish to selfless love for her friends in both the sub and dub...but more so in the dub.

Seto Kaiba's personality also suffers like Tea's when going from sub to dub. In the sub Kaiba is a little-more openminded (which is saying a lot compared to the dub!) to all the "supernatural" events that surround Yuugi and the duels he plays. Kaiba also becomes a little less of a jerk throughout season 4 and 5. In the dub he only comes across as an asinine skeptic who still doesn't believe in what is right in front of his eyes no matter how many times it is shown or explained to him. His skepticism adds to his asshole-ness...but he does play an important role in becoming a pretty stark character foil to both Yuugi and Joey.
Due to two whole filler seasons dedicated to the character development of Kaiba and his brother Mokuba, their characters remain interesting because of the focus on explaining their harsh childhood backgrounds. It still remains pretty inexcusable to me that Kaiba remains such a jerk when Yuugi and Joey have also come from harsh backgrounds but grew to become much more empathetic people...but I guess everyone grows at their own pace. Overall I appreciate how the personalities of Kaiba, Yuugi, and Joey all differ yet complement each other really well throughout the anime.

The rest of the characters all have pretty interesting personalities that differ enough from each other. They are all memorable and add enough to the plot without overshadowing our main gang. I especially enjoyed watching Mai, Rebecca, and Duke grow a bit.

The villains may all seem pretty generic but they play their part well. I do think season 4/Orichalcos arc should get a special mention though for having some pretty well-developed lackeys who remain pretty interesting throughout the season.

Finally, the main reason why I can't give this section a 9 or 10 is because of what we miss out on regarding Yuugi's growth. We never see him as the timid shy boy who started off friendless, grows up to standing up to all those who hurt his friends even if it meant that he would get beaten to a pulp. This is where Yami's dark sadistic games would take over. The anime fails to portray the stark contrast between Yuugi's forgiveness, compassion, and pacifism and Yami's arrogance and cruelty.
Instead, the anime starts off with the portrayal that Yami is already a pretty benevolent spirit who only wants to do what's best for his "family" and ultimately the world. Yami ends up completely overshadowing Yuugi throughout the entire show because they both possess the "heroic" character traits. Yami just has more assertiveness/confidence that allows him to pull ahead of Yuugi in screentime.
Even with the Orichalcos arc, the adaptation still falls flat in showing how Yuugi and Yami slowly complement and learn from each other since they start off as complete opposites. This is especially obvious in the last couple episodes of the show.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION*

This is especially disappointing because the Kaiba brothers get essentially more screentime on their character growth than the main character himself. YES I AM GOING TO SAY IT. YUUGI IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. Not Yami. Yami is someone who helps Yuugi along the way but ultimately it is Yuugi who enriches the plot. As the anime shows, Yuugi is the exceptional boy who solved the millenium puzzle, made friends with his enemies, and had the courage to stand with Yami during shadow games even if it could cost him his soul.

Because the anime loves to hype up Yami's character so much, Yuugi's coming-of-age journey falls flat at the end of the series. For a series that is well known for it's "ass-pulls" when it comes to winning the duel in the exact right way at the exact right time, the ending of this show seems like a literal ass-pull in trying to tie up Yuugi's character growth...

*END OF SPOILERS*

Enjoyment: (9)

I truly enjoyed Yugioh. I realize that shows that I tend to be more critical of, I tend to enjoy more because my "constructive...heheh" criticism is just a way for me to show how much I truly loved a show.
The variety of cards in the duels always astounded me and I looked forward to what kind of deck and strategy the next opponent would have. *(Reminder, the rules for duel monsters were still being developed by Kazuki Takahashi while the show was airing so not every move is cheating).*

The characters in Yugioh stood out to me when I was a child, and they stood out even more 10 years later as I rewatched the series as an adult. It was refreshing to watch the characters adventure through the "real-world," not some fantasy land- this allowed me to actually delve into the storyline because I felt like, as cheesy as it sounds, that a duel monsters tournament could be taking place in a big city like San Francisco right in present day.

Of important note: coming from someone who tends to avoid all English dubs, I have been surprisingly impressed with the voice acting of 4kids. Even if there is lots of censorship...I would have to say that the dub is worth it just for the voices...the sub is not bad though. Either way Yugioh was extremely enjoyable.

Overall: (7)

The anime takes a pretty typical shounen route in regards to themes and villains, so it's definitely not perfect...but somehow it still stands out from the rest. Watching someone play card games and draw a hand has never seemed as impressive or entertaining as Yugioh makes it. If you can sit through characters voicing off their strategies for their card games, then you're in for a journey about the true meaning of friendship- friends that are always there for each other no matter how dangerous their journey gets.

It was a good show. Yu-Gi-Oh was one of the anime I used to grow up watching anime like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Beyblade and Dragonball Z.
What made this anime most exciting was the Trading Card Game they played, which was huge at the time with kids who were my age. The characters had great personalities and they were one of a kind in their own part of the plot. Seto Kaiba was a great rival for Yugi (I don't think they could have made anyone better) and the best bad guy of the entire series was YamiMarik from seasons 2 and 3.
The best episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh ... were the Battle City finals and the Virtual World in Season 3 Enter The Shadow Realm. Although the duels were good the only thing that would turn you down about them was the fact that they were long and repetitive.
Still nothing is perfect and there is always going to be something you don't enjoy about a film or a TV series. There are specific episodes in the series that they managed to fit a whole duel into one episode (which was very good and entertaining if you think they were entertaining enough).
I have seen the sequels to Yu-Gi-Oh like GX and 5D's. These ones as such are alright but none can compare to the original.
If you can follow Yu-Gi-Oh I think that it can be a great anime to make FanFictions on, and for watching the series I would recommend it mainly to kids between the ages of 10 and 13. It can be enjoyable to watch if you still enjoy the card game though.
Hope my review helps anyone who was considering watching this anime.

I think I'm on the right season, but apologies if not. Another mini review by Waldy565 :D - just two more shows to review now, Pani Poni Dash and Gurren Lagann.
So, I went into this anime with expectations set low, after all, I'd grown up in a generation where you were a Pokemon fan, a Yu-Gi-Oh fan or a Digimon fan, and me and my friends were massive Pokemon fans. (And still are). I did have a friend however who was in to Yu-Gi-Oh, so I had dabbled in the game, but all the stats flew by me when I was a kid, I ... enjoyed the simplicity of Pokemon much more, and it took over, but I gave the anime the benefit of the doubt, and decided to take a look...Ugh...
The voice acting is what first hit me. It's not terrible... Well, OK, what I mean is it possibly tries to be cheesy, but in a funny way, and falls flat on it's face. They're all lines like: "Hang in there!", "You can do it!" etc. I mean, that dialogue isn't too bad, and the script wouldn't be half as bad if it was done decentley, I mean, you have a gritty antagonist, a "almost about to die" grandfather, a girl who says things like "You should be ashamed of yourself"... but I digress...
The animation is also what caught me. It's also not the worst I've seen, but it's been done a lot better. To be generous, there's no clipping or any mistake like that that would completely jar the experience, but what did jar it for me was the lip synchronization. It was terrible! Long words were spoke, and the characters mouth would just move into an "o" shape and back, without rhyme or rhythm. Sure, this happens on stuff like Pokemon as well, but Pokemon's still going strong and attracting fans almost every day, and everyone knows Pikachu over Blue Eyes White Dragon (but DAYUM does that card bring back nostalgia memories haha!)
Overall, Yu-Gi-Oh is OK for what it is, an anime based off the card game. Generic characters that you can't really get attached too? Hell yes. A story that jumps all over the damn place? You got it. But it does a good job at promoting the series, and some of the card battles are awesome. To give it a JeremyJahms (search him up on Youtube) review, this is a good time... with alcohol ;)