Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! not only entertains with a wide range of animated monsters and clever strategies but also takes us into a world where those who battle for for the ones they love and for honor DO stand a chance against the powerful and corrupt. As the series continues so does the story gain in depth and interest dispelling any scepticism that can be experienced watching the first few episodes alone (which are really a gentle introduction into how the duel monsters realm works).

I don't know why so many people doesn't like this show, it's got everything you can wish from a good cartoon show. The excitement, humor and the fight against good and evil. And when they are taking most of the story from agent Egypt It's get more and more exited.

I had never enjoyed a Manga series this much, except from Sailor Moon. But this series is the best when it comes down from it's category. But it's too bad that the cards you can buy from the series is to expensive, but that doesn't stop me. I got almost a hundred, and more is going to be.

Yu-Gi-Oh is the best cartoon show I had ever seen and the movie is so god that I can watch it over and over again. THIS IS ABSOLUTE GREAT!!!

Yu-Gi-Oh has to be one of my favorite cartoons since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's about a boy, Yugi Moto, who must save his kidnapped Grandfather from an evil millionaire. How is he to do it? By playing Duel Cards on an island tournament, thats how. Each person he duels has their own motive for winning, whether it's to save a loved one (like his friend Joey), a personal vendetta (like Kaiba or Bandit Keith), or if they just want to buy more 'accessories' (Mia). I think seeing each character's personality, and how it reflects on their card playing, is one of the best aspects of this show. (especially Joey, he's so damn funny!)

This ain't no Pokemon folks, It's time to duel!

The year was 1999. The 90s were making their final rounds in television, spewing out franchise after franchise to weather the storm of the 2000s. But out of all the shows created in these times, only two have withstood the test of time: Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh.

But why was Yu-Gi-Oh so successful? I mean, it was just a card game, right? There were plenty of other franchises that existed to sell toys: Transformers, G.I. Joe, Pokemon, Star Wars (you know, the prequels), etc. So what made Yu-Gi-Oh any different? Because, dear friend, while other shows' merchandise remained simple merchandise, Yu-Gi-Oh took a Japanese card game and turned it into A BATTLE OF GOD-LIKE ENTITIES, HERE TO RECLAIM THE WORLD THEY RULED SO LONG AGO.

Seriously, if you knew the card game, then you knew NOTHING about the show. It managed to tie this simple game to Egyptian rituals, malevolent spirits, dark magic, action, peril, souls being bound to items of immeasurable power... Does this bone-chilling stuff sound ANYTHING like a children's card game to you?

That's not to say that the show is dark; most of the time it's quite upbeat and focuses on the card game. But when the dark powers appear before us, you can FEEL the grandiose nature of their presence OOZING out of the screen. You can feel the fact that there are greater forces at work at all times; always lurking in the shadows, always calculating their next move, and the only ones that stand between us and their demented plans are Yugi Moto and company.

Now, I know a lot of people like to complain about how 4Kids took out a lot of the violence, the nudity, the use of guns in certain scenes, and... Honestly, I'm glad they did. This show doesn't NEED violence; it doesn't need a lot of the more adult content that the Japanese include in their kids shows. By taking a lot of those elements out, they made the show more about what it SHOULD focus on: the mysticism and the card game. Putting in guns, violence and other "questionable" content only serves to bring the show closer to reality, the exact opposite of magic. Yes, the first few episodes are pretty dumbed down and the first arc holds little basis in the actual rules of the game. But once it got past that stage, it turned into a really fun, really enjoyable experience, with the exception of some painfully obvious censorship here and there.

So if you love magic, mystery, secrets, dark realms of evil power, and 2D animation that still holds up today, check out this incredible show. It is AWESOME, man!

OK, I'll admit it...I am a sucker for the "30 min. commercials". I have been ever since I was a kid back in the, uh, 80's. I would go out and buy all the brand-new cool Transformers featured in the cartoon. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?...I was there. I am every toy manufacturers' ... dream. Yu-Gi-Oh is the continuation of my bizarre fascination with cartoons.

What's so great about this cartoon. Honestly, I can't say what it is I like. OK, I lied. I absolutely love the duels! I'm not a huge Anime fan, so that really does nothing for me. The constant babbling about "friendship" and "love" I can certainly do without. Not that those are bad things, and it's good that kids are taught these values while being brainwashed into buying the game, but it can be *awfully* sugary-sweet, especially when you're, um, <mumble> twenty-eight </mumble>. But I really enjoy the duels and it makes me want to go out and buy the cards and play with other people. Unfortunately, I have no friends, and my wife doesn't have any interest in dueling me. Fortunately, there's Game Boy Advance. I was given Dark Duel Stories for Christmas and recently bought Eternal Duelist Soul...both great games, though EDS is definitely closer to the original game than DDS. The point being, this tv show is really nothing more than an avenue for advertising their games...and I love it!

Now, what I'd like to see is how well Yugi fairs against someone who has some really nasty cards in their deck....how would he handle having Raigeki and Dark Hole being smacked down on his Dark Magician and Summoned Skull????