Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (Anime Review)

And, now, we move onto the third Yu-Gi-Oh! series and the only other one I've seen besides the original and GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. And, unlike every other anime I've seen where I may have heard a lot or a few things about them before I saw them, I knew absolutely nothing about this one, not one thing. I didn't know anything about the story, the setting, the characters, nothing. And so, it was really nice to go into this and not know what to expect. And, the reason I wanted to watch this was, not only because it's another Yu-Gi-Oh! series, but also because I really wanted to watch the Bonds Beyond Time movie which was a crossover between this and the original series and GX. In fact, I really wasn't expecting anything from this. I went in watching it just to watch it and that's it. And, in the end, I think thought about this the same way I did about GX in that I really, really liked it. In fact, when I finished watching it, I just loved it. There was so much about it that I really loved. Yes, there were some things that I didn't like, but my reaction was mostly really positive with this. And when I say it was the same as GX for me, I mean the same as what I said before about not really sure about what people's general thoughts are about it, but I still enjoyed it. Also, another similarity I have for this with GX is the fact that I haven't seen the whole thing since the same thing happened with this as Season 4 of GX in that the final season was never dubbed so I haven't seen it even though I really wish it did finish. Anyway, let's get to the series. Also, like before, this will have all spoilers, so keep that in mind. So, the story is about a guy named Yusei Fudo who lives in this place called the Satellite which is this kinda destroyed junk island and is next to an island with a city called New Domino City and anyone from the Satellite is usually treated poorly by anyone there. And Yusei is usually on the run from security who think he's a criminal. So he spends most of his time working with some friends there trying to make a Runner, which is like a motorbike-like thing that a person can drive and play Duel Monsters on. He's also had a sad history with never knowing his parents and two of his friends betray him, especially Jack Atlas who stole his last Runner and best card just so he could go to New Domino City and become famous. So, after he finally makes a new Runner and heads to New Domino City, he discovers he, alongside Jack and some other characters, are actually Signers, which basically gives them marks on their arms of a creature called the Crimson Dragon, a dragon from a long time ago. And, I'm stopping there as far as telling the story like this. So, as soon as I started, the first few episodes didn't interest me that much. It was kinda interesting to learn about these characters' pasts and what exactly is happening, but the first few episodes did feel kinda like a slug to me and sometimes there some annoying moments. However, I think the series really gets going after the whole facility segment, which is basically this prison and Yusei is thrown into it after being caught by security. As soon as that happens, he's approached by a man named Goodwin, who's pretty much the main villain of the first season and is the one who explains to Yusei about the history of the Crimson Dragon and about how it's a creature that sealed away some evil a long time ago and a part of its power is now inside him, Jack and some others. One of those others being a small girl named Luna who has a twin brother named Leo. And I really like the relationship Yusei builds with the two of them. Kinda being like a big brother to them that they both look up to. Luna also has some power where she can enter something called the Spirit World with the spirits of duel monsters. This part actually reminded me a lot of The Legend Of Korra with a whole Spirit World idea. Anyway, the fourth Signer is another girl Yusei's age named Akiza, who has telekinetic abilities and is part of a group called the Arcadia Movement. And, this part of the series is probably the part I liked the most. Seeing these characters interacting and forming relationships. Every characters builds some relationship with each other and that's the part about it I liked the most, especially since I liked almost all the characters. It was also interesting seeing some of their pasts like Akiza being this girl who had these powers her whole life and couldn't control them which caused everyone around her to shun her and even her own parents being afraid of her and so she decided to join the Acadia Movement so she would belong somewhere. And, again, the duels themselves are pretty cool, but the actual character moments of everyone pushing the plot forward was the part that entertained me the most and seeing how everyone formed relationships with each other. It's also pretty satisfying when some characters turn good in this like when Jack agrees to help Yusei and the others and be a good guy again. Not just him, but also Trudge, who's the main officer who was after Yusei for a while until they agree to team up and it's cool when he becomes a good guy too. And eventually, we learn more about this whole story like how Yusei's father was actually a scientist who created something called the Ener-D Reactor that caused a lot of damage to the city and his death with having to send Yusei to the Satellite for his own safety and it's later revealed that he was sabotaged. And we learn other things like the existence of Dark Signers who feed on fear and doubt to make themselves stronger. It's even later revealed that one of them is a guy that Yusei and Jack knew named Kalin. I haven't mentioned this yet, but there's another guy named Crow who's Yusei's best friend and also knew Kalin. And, again, we get more and more information and more duels with them trying to stop the Dark Signers and even Goodwin's brother who they think is the main bad guy until it's revealed that Goodwin himself is the main villain who has the arm of the fifth and last Signer and challenges Yusei, Jack and Crow to a duel. Eventually, they're able to beat him, but something really weird happens afterwards. He kinda sees Goodwin and his brother kinda make amends with Yusei in what looks like head or something. I dunno, the whole flip between the two of them kinda confused me because they would both say the other one was the villain and they'd act kinda evil and so it was really confusing whenever that aspect was mentioned. And then, by the end, everyone who was absorbed by the Dark Signers, or anyone who was being controlled by them is back to normal and Yusei, Jack and Crow manage to build a bridge connecting New Domino City to the Satellite. So, the first season of this for me was mostly positive even if some things didn't work for me. For one, there was that stuff I mentioned about how it would sometimes get weird with how the bad guy kinda switched between Goodwin and his brother as well as the fact that some characters were a bit annoying like Leo. He was mostly pretty solid, but he did get really annoying sometimes. Something else that was weird was when some characters would disappear form the story all together like Yusei's friends from the Satellite who helped him build his second Runner at the beginning of the first episode. They kinda vanish really quickly, which is weird considering their actions did lead to a lot of events that happened. But, again, like I said, the main thing I liked about this was the relationships that form between the characters. Probably the one I liked the most was Yusei's relationship with Akiza because she kinda becomes a love interest for him and I really liked a lot of their scenes together. Plus, the actual story itself with us learning more about the past and learning about Yusei's upbringing and other different things like that kept me wanting more when I was first watching this. I also found it interested how they made Duel Monsters different this time with adding in different elements. Not just the whole Runner idea with these motorcycles, but also different rules they introduced. As for the second season, I mostly feel about it the same way I did the first, although not as much because I didn't find it as interesting as the first, but there is still a lot I liked. For one, I found it cool how at the beginning, we're introduced to these three kinda alien guys while Yusei and the others are working for the Dueling Tournament coming up. And the stuff here is mostly pretty interesting, although some things weren't as interesting as others. I liked the inclusion of Bruno, this guy who's been mind controlled to be around Yusei and he begins to grow a friendship with him. And I still liked the relationships between everyone else, especially, again, the whole Yusei and Akiza one. But it's still nice to see Yusei being a big brother figure to Leo and Luna. However, unlike the first season where it didn't feel like there was any or much filler and was able to tell its story well, this season did have a few episodes like that. The biggest example I can think of is when Yusei goes to this western like town to find Kalin who's a good guy now and is trying to make amends for all the things he did. There are some interesting things here, but most of it did feel kinda pointless and too long. But this did all lead up to when Yusei and the others enter the tournament and are able to beat them along with some other team they were competing against called Team Ragnarok. And it was cool, though, maybe not as interesting as season 1. Also, another kinda weird thing is that there's some strange storylines that honestly didn't need to be in this season because there's some that could have been removed and not felt much different. But that isn't a detriment to the series as a whole, I still really, really enjoyed it. So, yeah, overall, that's all I saw from the series. So, even though I haven't seen all of it, what I did see, I really liked it. Not knowing anything about the plot or characters definitely helped because it means I could start it and not know what to expect. And, for the most part, I had a really great time with the show. I really enjoyed it and, like what I said for GX, I'm really glad this is part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series. And, not only that, I should have said this for GX too, but I'm glad this is also technically a Shonen Jump property. And, again, what kept me intrigued for the most part was the characters and how likeable they were and their interactions and relationships between each other. It was also nice that there weren't any references to the other shows before considering that means it didn't have to rely on it, though I do wish we could have gotten maybe one mention of Yugi in this, I think that would have been cool, especially if it came form Yusei. And I think the cast is also really fantastic, especially Gregory Abbey as Yusei himself and Erica Schroeder as Akiza. A big part of why I liked these characters were the actors and they all did really well. Again, like I've said a couple of times already, I'm not entirely sure if the reception to this is mostly positive, but I think it should get more attention. I really liked it and I am disappointed the dubbing didn't finish considering I was loving it so much. The only other Yu-Gi-Oh! series I might be starting soon is Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexel since it's on DVD here and I am curious to see it. So, yeah, again, if you're a fan of this franchise, I would suggest checking this out if you're interested. And so, everyone, that's my review for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.