Yu-Gi-Oh! (Anime Review)

So, returning to my anime reviews is one that I've mentioned a good amount of times on here but haven't given many in depth thoughts on, Yu-Gi-Oh! I think this is technically the first anime I ever watched because my brother got a video of the first three episodes long ago when I was maybe four or five years old and I checked it out a few times. Not to mention the fact that I sometimes watched the spin-off series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. And there were some other things about I watched a lot too like the movie or when I watched my brother playing any of the games. So, years later, it was pretty nostalgic for me to revisit it and watch the whole thing. I got the whole series on DVD two years ago and I was able to watch the whole thing. And I still like it now. Obviously the fact that it's a Shonen Jump property is a big help, but the story itself as well is just really fascinating with it taking the idea of a kid playing a card game and doing something really great and unique with it. So, the story about a boy named Yugi who's big into games and is also the one who recompleted the Millennium Puzzle which freed the spirit of an ancient pharaoh, who Yugi is actually the reincarnation of. Together with his friends, Joey, Téa and Tristan, Yugi begins a journey to discover what the pharaoh is and what's the situation surrounding him in regards to not remembering his past. All the while having a card game called Duel Monsters that a lot of people in this world play for big issues. And so, something that I think is cool about the show is that it may be a Shonen series, but it's not the kind you'd expect from one. And by that I'm talking about the fact that it's not the same kinda action focused story like a lot of ones from Shonen. But I do also appreciate the approach to the way the show started considering the anime's a lot different from manga because this was done by 4Kids and a lot of the stuff was edited to be more kid friendly. But, even with what we got, I really enjoyed it. As I just said, there was obviously an original manga series by Kazuki Takahashi and it was a lot more violent than the anime. Actually, there was another series of Yu-Gi-Oh before this that a lot of people called Season 0 that adapted the first seven volumes of the manga that were more violent than what came later. But this one that keeps it going from that point onward is easily the more popular version. And there's a lot of amazing aspects to it. Like a lot of Shonen series, and just anime in general, the best part of the series  is the characters. All of them are well written, well designed and are super memorable. I already made a list two years ago talking about my favourite characters from this and I still stand by what I said there. All the characters are either really fun to watch or really interesting. And I like how this is a series that gets you interested from the get-go. Unlike some other anime series where it feels like it takes some episodes to really get into it, this one hooks you from the start. And it's so well set up from the start that you don't care about the absence from the first seven volumes because they don't rely on them afterwards. So you can just watch where this series starts off and just enjoy the rest even if they don't include them. And I feel like this series is presented in a somewhat different way from other Shonen series because, given how it's not as action focused, I think it helps it be presented differently from others. I mean, it clearly has story arcs and all that, but the set-up for them isn't exactly the same as others. And, in terms of the fascination in the series, that definitely comes for me whenever we're exploring the past. A lot of the talks that the characters have about it always intrigues me. And that's even shown early on as well like in Yugi's duel against Pegasus. Really, the series wastes no time get into what its central story is and keeps going from there. In terms of the stories themselves, the best is still what I said before, I still stand by the fact that I think Battle City is where it's at its best. The story is at its highest there, but even before we get there, the story on Duellist Kingdom against Pegasus is great too. I love the way each duel is set up and its presentation of more characters is pretty ingenious and I like how the story goes. It also does a great job with having interesting character development throughout the series too like how Kaiba is slightly lightening up on Yugi a bit or the fact that Joey's beginning to becomes a pro dueller. But Battle City is where the series is at its pinnacle. For one, the whole set up with Ishizu coming in and telling Kaiba more about the past is a good set up and it's even cooler when we see the introduction of Marik. And there's a lot of memorable duels that come from it like Yugi's duel against Joey after he's being mind controlled, Yugi and Kaiba's rematch and the best is easily Yugi's final duel against Marik. Everything the series was building up to at that point was great and this duel concluded all of it in a really satisfying way. And it's pretty smart the way Takahashi places these characters in these situations. Not to mention the fact that Takahashi is also an incredible artist and I love his artwork in the manga and he does a great job with the storytelling as well. However, after the whole Battle City story, we get a whole bunch of filler arcs. Up to 54 episodes of them. I remember liking a few when I was younger. I think I mentioned this before, but I think the series has some filler that are enjoyable like the whole story with the Seal Of Orichalcos or the Capsule Monster, which I didn't watch when I was watching the whole series two years ago, but I do remember watching them when I was younger and thinking they were really interesting. As for how I would feel about them now, I'm not entirely sure because I think I would like to watch some of them, except the really bad Rebecca arc, and some people say they like the two other arcs I just mentioned. So I might watch them again when I rewatch the series at some point. But then the series is right back on track again when we get the final arcs of the series. The Pharaoh's Memories arc is a big highlight of the series too like when we explore more of Atem's past and see what his life was like before and seeing the rise of Zorc and seeing his design is really awesome. And there's a lot of detail in this story. It went on for a lot longer than I was expecting. But it certainly helped with making the story feel that much more satisfying and interesting. The only part about it I didn't like all that much was the story with Seto and Kisara. It wasn't bad, I just didn't find it all that interesting and I just didn't like a lot of those scenes. I get that it helps us understand Kaiba's interest with the Blue Eyes White Dragon, but I just didn't find it as interesting as the rest of the stuff. But then, in terms of the duels themselves, I think the series's all time best is at the very end with Yugi vs. Atem. I think the idea of Yugi taking on Atem is already a great idea and Takahashi does a really great job with it. Not just with the great ideas and moves he has both characters make, but also in terms of surprising us and having both of them use their heads really well. The fact that two of the best partners I've ever seen in anime are going head-to-head in a fight like this is a really great idea and the execution is totally worth all the buildup. And then the ending where Atem is freed and finally gets to be at peace with the rest of his people is really nice to see. It's sad, but really nice and satisfying as well, especially for me in my opinion because, as I said before, Atem himself is still my favourite character in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! And I like how the rest of the characters show up in other Yu-Gi-Oh series afterwards like Yugi, Grandpa, Pegasus and Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh GX and so on. I'm currently in the middle of collecting all of Yu-Gi-Oh GX and watching all of it. But, as for this series by itself, it's really good and, like I said, really nostalgic for me with how I've been watching it since I watching it since I was a kid. So, yeah, definitely check this series out if you're able to, it's totally worth it. And watching the series progress and watching the characters go through this will be really interesting for ya to watch. And so, yeah, everyone, those are my thoughts on Yu-Gi-Oh! Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.