Anime | Manga What happened to Yu-Gi-Oh?

[Hunter Hawk 392]

*NOTE - may contain spoilers of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise

 

Just a little share of my thoughts about my point of view on Yu-Gi-Oh, simmilar anime and differences. 

 

I really loved watching anime since I was kid, with Pokemon, Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh being my favorite. But when I'm looking at Yu-Gi-Oh now, I really can't shake the question what happened to it.

 

Alright better start from the beginning. The first generation of Yu-Gi-Oh really was something. Every character is unique (no matter how useless they are, they still have interessting backgrounds), story has a sense, villans are absolutely epic and even those long episodes of duels are some sort worth watching. I firstly watched only first season and I liked it a lot due to being in english with subtitles. Then second and third seasons came, this time dubbed in my native language (which I really hated becuase voices just didn't suit the characters and most of the time I didn't really understand what they were saying) but I was really curious what was going to happen so I just watched it. After fourth season, Yu-Gi-Oh stopped airing in my country. Since I already knew enough english, I started watching it on the internet and by the time Yu-Gi-Oh GX (dubbed version again) started airing I finished watching the first generation of Yu-Gi-Oh.

 

I don't really know what to say about Yu-Gi-Oh GX. From the start I was kind of into it, seeing Yugi giving Jaden card and all, but after a while it just looked like a joke to me. I mean, neither of characters had specific background, character design was a way too kiddie and colorful for my taste, not to mention lame story and forced humour. Even monsters weren't really to be remembered, only Jesse's Crystal Beasts maybe.There were few exceptions (the ones with Shadow Riders, where Jesse appears and Dimensional world where Jaden is evil), but that was just it. Out of curiousity I checked english version (but most of the time just listening to it while doing something else). Storyarc with Yubel was the only really interessting part of entire GX. There was also another season that hasn't been dubbed yet, but I just skipped it becuase I had enough of it.

 

Yu-Gi-Oh Capsule monsters were great too, except for the fact that * power of friendship and working together thing* is said to have a big role, but it's only talk (except for the final episode when all dragons protected Yugi from the blast). Though I really liked originality of Yugi's five challanges and the fact that both Tristan and Tea finally got to be part of the battle team.

 

After the year of not watching either of Yu-Gi-Oh shows, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's came out and man, how I loved this show. Yusei was just amazing main character along with all other Signers. Despite GX being totally different from original, 5D's brought bit of origins back. Yusei was almost completely as awsome as Yami Yugi, Jack was a little bit off, but I really liked how they made him into Yusei's friend instead of eternal rival, Crow was perfect for carrying out Joey's legacy (even though Joey's *cousin* was presented) and Akiza showed girls can be badass as much as boys can be. From time to time I was missing *the other Yusei* next to him, since he was so simmilar to Yami, but twins Leo and Luna were great for Yugi's replacement (from time to time I found Leo annoying, but I liked it how his character developed through the series).

Not to mention the meaning of 5D's - five dragons with each of them having one and dueling on motorcycles. When watching them duel, it almost felt as creators were trying to show their best out of it. I absolutely liked how great storyarcs 5D's had, with Dark Signers being my favorite one. Nazca Lines, drama of the bacground stories, well made villans and final battle - everything was just enjoyable to watch. Maybe some of the duels were taking a lot of time, but motorcycles brought excitement. 

 

The time when I was watching 5D's, not all of the episodes were dubbed yet. So I started watching japanese version with english subs. It felt a bit of weird on beginning, but I soon got used to watching it. But that was when I started noticing stuff that I didn't before - massive amount of cenzorship!

Okay I understand some of the scenes had to be changed, but not that much to take an effect on the story. I mean take an episode where Yusei fight Kalin in Dark Signers arc for an example. When Yusei crushes with his Rider, his friends are making shocked faces over his injuries when in fact he didn't seem injured. In Japanese version there's entire answer, Yusei has been stabbed by pieces of metal and was awfully bleeding. For simmilar reason deaths were removed and story didn't have any sense, later I noticed the same thing was happening in first generation of Yu-Gi-Oh (plus guns were removed so some of the times there were just *empty* hands threats). An entire story arc was removed from dubbed version - it was just so weird when just before the massive enemy appeared, Yusei was saying it's finally over. 

Scene just wasn't suitable for the final moment. Japanese version of the final moments were much better with all of them showing how they grew up and how they found themselves. 

 

 

Expecting a great new generation of Yu-Gi-Oh, I was disappointed when another *kiddie sugar and rainbows* show was released. It was as they wanted to make even worse show than GX! I mean everything was a joke all over again. Maybe Astral's and Yuma's connection was slightly simmilar to Yami's and Yugi's, but it didn't bring out the excitment I felt when watching original or 5D's. I only checked few episodes and that was about it.

 

While it aired, I got myself to watch season 0 and movies. For season 0, I got the idea why it wasn't dubbed, but it was enjoable to watch a bit more dark side of the show. The first movie was great too (except for the never changing Kaiba) and Bonds Beyond Time weren't half bad (except Japanese was way better). I also checked the manga of entire series and for some parts I kinda wanted to be brought in the anime (when Yugi fights Duke, Yugi's battle with posessed Joey, Milenium World...).

I compared Japanese and US version, finding the first way better than second. Japanese voices suited characters way more than english ones (I'm not saying voice actors like Dan Green are bad, it's just that I find Yugi's and Yami's japanese voice actors more fitting). Plus some of the Japanese openings refresh the story arc. Instrumental US intro is great to listen too, but after 100 episodes of listening to it, you get a little tired. Not saying it's bad, melody is terrific, it's just that you kinda want something more.

 

Now I see there's yet another generation Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V (AGAIN! GX and ZEXAL style) and I'll probably skip it out. Where's the epicness and characters from the first generation and 5D's? Instead of continuing the sucess of those two generations, show got turned into something only little kids would love to watch. I get it, it is meant to be a kid show, but why was so much cenzorship? It completely changed the story. If you want kids to watch it, let them wait until they grow up into teens, not putting *empty hands threats* just for them to watch it.

 

Not to mention, new shows were created like Bakugan, Monsuno and simmilar *toy anime*. The whole thing is about little toys that save the world, but the world itself is supposed to be different. In first generation and 5D's there was at least a limit to how world was involved.

 

 

 

 

So what is your opinion about Yu-Gi-Oh? Do you really want to watch something what was firstly meant for teens and then for little kids? No, this show deserves a generation of a badass main character and developmenting story. Not something with forced humour and rushed episodes. Not something with pointless comercial for trading card game.

 

In my opinion new generation should have a main character simmilar to Yami or Yusei, memorable monsters, epic story and little bit of drama. 

 

I really hope that after ARC-V is done, show will again bring the excitment. Did you felt it when watching first and third generation? I know I did.

 

Leave your opinion about the topic below, I wanna know what kind of opinion you guys have. You can as well as criticise me if you want, as long as it has a reason to do so.

 

 

 

 

*thanks if you at least read all that

Edited July 6, 2014 by Hunter Hawk

[awesomeinmyworld 268]

I love Yu-Gi-Oh! too. The original series will always be my favorite, I watched some of season 0 which was a little strange to me because I grew up watching the English dub and hearing Yugi's Japanese voice was very strange. As for GX and 5Ds, it took me a long time to start watching those, and I actually liked GX more than 5Ds. I thought Jaden was a refreshing character, not overly serious and easygoing. And I find his power unique, most stories in general don't promote a character with dark powers, I just wish that that they dubbed the 4th season in English and that they went a little further into Jaden and the Supreme King's backstories. It really left something to be desired. I could actually do a character analysis on Jaden, but don't really feel like it. I actually didn't really like 5Ds, I thought the Turbo duels were a really stupid idea and Yusei was too serious of a character. And, again, they didn't dub a lot of episodes, which reeealy bugged me. Honestly, the only thing I liked about 5D was Jack and Carly(which unfortunately went nowhere) and when Leo became a signer. Watched the first 2 episodes of Zexal and just quit. I'll look into the new series, but the franchise has deteriorated a bit. The problem with some of the censorship stems from 4KidsTV, which dubbed the show in English. Guns and a little bit of blood *gasp* the horror!

[Pingutino 47]

Wow... I am speechless. It's like you wrote everything I think about YGO.  I am missing the first and third generation, too. 3 months ago I started watching Zexal and I thought "ouwwkaaay, maybe they want to attract a younger audience, children maybe in order to gain new fans" but even my little brother said the show is boring, bring back Yusei. I stopped watching after 6 or 7 episodes. Arc V is like a copy of Zexal, again a new Card-System but unlike Synchro or Fusion it's confusing, and missing the epicness.I know what you mean when you say you felt it and I really hope, like you, that they bring back the excitement and epicness we know from Yugi and Yusei !

[twilight_roxas 326]

The series still needs a female lead character.

[Hunter Hawk 392]

The series still needs a female lead character.

[twilight_roxas 326]

your pic is broken

[Yuya Sakaki 5,212]

I agree with some of the things you mentioned, like 5D's being the absolute best Yu-Gi-Oh series (closely followed by the original). Like hands down, 5D's is the bomb.

 

However, I gotta say that I disagree with everything else.

 

Firstly, GX. I liked it; it wasn't really that bad of a series, especially in the last season. If you haven't watched it, I highly suggest you do. I'm not going to give away anything, but there's a few... surprises, if you will. Judai is a pretty awesome protagonist if you ask me, and I really admire the changes he undergoes, particularly at the end of season 3 where he merged with Yubel via Super Polymerization. And Judai just has that teenage charm to him that you can't help but smile at

 

Now ZEXAL and Arc-V... I can see where you are coming from. I really do. But personally, I really enjoyed ZEXAL. I know it seems very kiddish at the beginning, but as the plot advances into the late first series and the entirety of the second series you start noticing that it gets pretty epic and it gains a lot more serious tone And I love that this series has allusions to the previous series scattered throughout. The most prominent would obviously be the bond between Yuma and Astral, which is similar to the bond Yugi and the Pharaoh share. However there are others which are kind of like Easter Eggs, which I enjoyed spotting! Also I like how Yuma's dueling really evolved. He wasn't a "legend" like the previous three protagonists; he had to build his way up to that level. This is really evident in the final duel of the series. I think Yuma is the one who really grew out of all the main characters. Still, Yusei rules all

 

And lastly, Arc-V. I'll be blunt and say I like it so far. I like how the series doesn't just revolve around the new Pendulum Summon mechanic but has a bit of everything: Fusion Summon, Synchro Summon and XYZ Summon. It even has some cool archetypes that make an appearance (I won't spoil it though). Yuya seems to be a very promising protagonist because he wasn't as dumb as Yuma was at the start -_-" Yes, even I disliked that. And that new "Action Duel" gimmick reminds me of the "Riding Duel" concept from 5D's. I think this may be a good series.

 

Basically, each series has it's own individual charm to it; in my opinion anyway. I still respect yours though, don't get me wrong! I'm just the kind of person who tries to give everything a chance to shine

 

Peace!