Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

Summary

Yu-Gi-Oh!, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Japanese: 遊☆戯☆王デュエルモンスターズ, Hepburn: Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu) and alternatively subtitled Rulers of the Duel in the United States and Canada, is a Japanese anime series animated by Studio Gallop based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series written by Kazuki Takahashi. It is the second anime adaptation of the manga following the 1998 anime television series produced by Toei Animation. The series revolves around a young high school boy named Yugi Muto who battles opponents in the Duel Monsters card game. The series begins from chapter 60 in volume 7 before loosely adapting the remaining chapters of the original manga by making story changes that conflict with the events of the manga canon.

Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cover of the first DVD volume, featuring the protagonist Yugi Mutou in the foreground and the Duelist Kingdom arc's antagonist, Maximillion Pegasus (Pegasus J. Crawford) in the background
遊☆戯☆王デュエルモンスターズ
(Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu)
Genre
Anime television series
Directed byKunihisa Sugishima
Produced by
  • Hidetaka Ikuta
  • Naoki Sasada
  • Noriko Kobayashi
Written by
Music byShinkichi Mitsumune
StudioGallop
Licensed by
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
Original run April 18, 2000 September 29, 2004
Episodes224 (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters
StudioGallop
Licensed by
  • NA:
    • 4Kids Entertainment (2006–2012)
    • Konami Cross Media NY
Original network
Original run September 9, 2006 November 25, 2006
Episodes12 (List of episodes)
Anime films
Other series
Other media

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 2000 to September 2004, running for 224 episodes; A remastered version, highlighting certain duels, began airing in Japan in February 2015.[3] An English-language localization of the anime series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment, and aired in the United States from September 29, 2001, to June 10, 2006, on Kids' WB. Twelve extra episodes, which is American-produced, aired exclusively for the Western audience in mid-late 2006 shortly after the conclusion of the main series.

The series has since spawned its own metaseries. Duel Monsters would be succeeded by Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!. Three films based on this anime series have also been produced: Pyramid of Light (2004), Bonds Beyond Time (2010) and The Dark Side of Dimensions (2016).[4]

Plot overview edit

Season 1 edit

The story follows Yugi Muto, a boy who completed an ancient Egyptian artifact known as the Millennium Puzzle, which led to him to inherit an alter-ego spirit. After defeating his rival, Seto Kaiba, in a game of Duel Monsters, Yugi is approached by Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters, who uses the power of another Millennium Item, the Millennium Eye, to kidnap the soul of Yugi's grandfather. Joined by his friends Joey Wheeler (Katsuya Jonouchi), Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda), and Téa Gardner (Anzu Mazaki), Yugi enters Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom tournament in order to defeat Pegasus and free his grandfather's soul.

Season 2 edit

Yugi learns that the spirit dwelling within him is a nameless Pharaoh from ancient Egyptian times, who doesn't remember anything of his past. Yugi enters Kaiba's Battle City tournament in order to obtain the three Egyptian God cards needed to unveil the Pharaoh's past. Along the way, Yugi encounters more Millennium Item wielders, including Marik Ishtar, the wielder of the Millennium Rod, and his elder sister Izhizu Ishtar who possesses the prophesying Millennium Necklace.

Season 3 edit

The first twenty-four episodes of the season form an original story arc that sees Yugi and his friends get sucked into a virtual world run by Noah, the illegitimate son of Kaiba's adoptive father, Gozaburo. After returning to the real world, the finals of the Battle City tournament commence.

Season 4 edit

Produced during the time Millennium World was being written, in a new, original story arc, the Orichalcos drains the power from the Egyptian God cards and begins gathering souls in order to revive the ancient dragon, Leviathan. Yugi, Joey and Kaiba are each given a legendary dragon card to fight the Orichalcos and its leader, Dartz.

Season 5 edit

The final season is equivalent to Millennium World in the manga. However, the first half focuses on anime-original story arcs released during the time the final chapters of the manga were being written.

After the Orichalcos has been eliminated, in another original story arc, Yugi and his friends battle in the KaibaCorp Grand Championship to face off another of Kaiba's rivals, Zigfried. Then, Yugi, his friends, and Solomon travel to India only to be taken to the world of Capsule Monsters.

The latter half of the season sees Ryo Bakura, the owner of the Millennium Ring, overcome by the dark spirit within the Ring. When Yugi and his friends go to Egypt, they find themselves sucked 5,000 years into the past, where Pharaoh must battle Bakura and his evil essence, Zorc the Dark One. After returning to the present day, Yugi and Pharaoh duel each other in the ultimate test.

Localization edit

 
The English Yu-Gi-Oh! logo

In the 4Kids adaptation, character names, settings, and other aspects were changed. The show's visuals and sound effects were replaced, and a new music score was used. In addition to explaining these changes, 4Kids' senior vice president of digital media, Mark Kirk, also explained during an interview with Anime News Network that U.S. television broadcast laws under the FCC dictated that the "Duel Monster" cards in the anime were not allowed to look exactly like the real cards that are sold; otherwise, the show would legally be considered a infomercial rather than an animated television series, and thus the cost to air it during daytime hours would become exponentially higher.[5]

Streaming edit

In July 2009, 4Kids announced plans to release the original, Japanese version of the anime series with subtitles on their YouTube channel. However, In August 2009, these episodes were removed due to legal issues with ADK (NAS' parent company) and Shunsuke Kazama, the Japanese voice of Yugi.[6][7] On July 11, 2015, the Japanese version of the series began streaming on Crunchyroll.[8][9] The news came over a week after an earlier announcement that streaming of subtitled episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX would begin on August 1, 2015.[10]

Cast edit

Major cast
Role Japanese English[11]
4Kids Entertainment (2001-2006) Voiceovers Unlimited (2001-2002)
Yugi Mutou/ Yami Yugi Shunsuke Kazama Jay Snyder Chuck Powers
Katsuya Jounouchi Hiroki Takahashi Joey Wheeler
Vinnie Penna Dwayne Tan
Anzu Mazaki Maki Saitou Tea Gardner
Amy Birnabum Alison Lester
Hiroto Honda 1-51 Takayuki Kondou Tristan Taylor
1-10 Sam Riegel Brian Zimmerman
52-224 Hidehiro Kikuchi 11-224; uncut Greg Abbey
Seto Kaiba Kenjirou Tsuda Eric Stuart Christian Lee
Mokuba Kaiba Junko Takeuchi 1-184 Tara Sands Christian Lee
185-224 Carrie Keranen
Ryou Bakura/ Yami Bakura 1-40 You Inoue Ted Lewis Chuck Powers
41-224 Rica Matsumoto
Suguroku Mutou Tadashi Miyazawa Solomon Mutou
Maddie Blaustein Chuck Powers
Pegasus J. Crawford Jirou Jay Takasugi Maximillion Pegasus
Darren Dunstan Brian Zimmerman
Mai Kujaku Haruhi Nanao Mai Valentine
1-144 Megan Hollingshead Alison Lester
145-224 Erica Schroeder
uncut Kathleen Delaney
Shizuka Kawai Mika Sakenobe Serenity Wheeler
Lisa Ortiz Alison Lester
Dinosaur Ryuuzaki 2-59 Kin Fujii Rex Raptor
1-144 Sam Riegel Brian Zimmerman

Christian Lee

131-224 Yuichi Nakamura 145-184 Sebastian Arcelus
185-224 Tony Salerno
Insector Haga Urara Takano Weevil Underwood
James Carter Cathcart Brian Zimmerman
Ryouta Kajiki Daisuke Namikawa Mako Tsunami
Andrew Rannells Dwayne Tan
"Bandit" Keith Howard Hajime Komada Ted Lewis Brian Zimmerman

Christian Lee

Shadi Nozomu Sasaki Vinnie Penna Brian Zimmerman

Chuck Powers

Rebecca Hawkins Kaori Tagami Kerry Williams Alison Lester
Arthur Hawkins Saburou Kodaka Mike Pollock Chuck Powers
Ryuji Otogi Ryou Naitou Duke Devlin
Marc Thompson
Ishizu Ishtar Sumi Shimamoto Nell Balaban Alison Lester
Marik Ishtar Tetsuya Iwanaga Jonathan Todd Ross Christian Lee
Rishid Ishtar Konta Odion Ishtar
J. David Brimmer Brian Zimmerman
Noa Kaiba Chisa Yokoyama Andrew Rannells Taaz Gill
Gozaburou Kaiba Tetsuo Komura 98-184 Richard Will Chuck Powers
185-224 Ted Lewis
Saruwatari Masahiro Okazaki Kemo
Eric Stuart Brian Zimmerman
Isono Masami Iwasaki Roland
1-127; 149-224 David Wills Brian Zimmerman

Chuck Powers

128-148 Vinnie Penna
Dartz Yuu Emao Vinnie Penna

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Wolf, Ian (November 17, 2014). "Yu-Gi-Oh! Volume 1". Anime UK News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  2. ^ Ulstein, Stefan (August 13, 2004). "Yu-Gi-Oh!". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  3. ^ "2016 Yu-Gi-Oh! Film Teaser Recaps 20 Years of Manga, Anime". animenewsnetwork.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  4. ^ "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie Pyramid of Light". YuGiOh! World. October 13, 2015. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  5. ^ Bertschy, Zac. "Kirk Up Your Ears". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  6. ^ "Removal of Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes was due to Nonrenewal of Japanese Voice Actor's Contract by ADK". Word Press. August 24, 2009. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  7. ^ "Official Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes Removed from YouTube, Never to Return Again". Word Press. August 21, 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  8. ^ Luster, Joseph. "Crunchyroll Adds "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Season 1 with English Subtitles". Crunchyroll News. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  9. ^ "Crunchyroll Adds English-Subtitled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  10. ^ "Crunchyroll To Stream English Subtitled "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX"". Crunchyroll News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  11. ^ "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 23, 2021.

External links edit

  • TV Tokyo Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters site (Japanese)
  • NASinc. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters site (Japanese)[dead link]
  • Nicktoons US website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  • Nickelodeon UK Yu-Gi-Oh! webpage at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia