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.
