Yu-Gi-Oh!

First thing's first.

This show was loved by pretty much every preteen kid in the early 2000s (including myself). Having said that, looking back, the English dub of the show is a bit too pandering and repetitive (and when I say 'a bit', I mean 'excessively') The changes 4Kids Entertainment made to the English dub of Yugioh, at times, are just too silly that they have eventually become memes. No death, no guns, but let's leave in the part about people losing their souls, that's A-OK! At this stage of my life, Yugioh is kind of a guilty pleasure, just because of how over the top it can get. There's a guy on YouTube called LittleKuriboh who makes a living from taking the mick out of the show, for God's sake! When it boils down to it, most of the hinging story threads are really silly. "Let's play a children's card game in order to decide the fate of the world!" "The heart of the cards will guide me!" "The power of friendship will never leave us." And speaking of the last part, talk about emphasizing the friendzone to the nth degree! Tea, the token female of the group harps on about this constantly, but you just know that Yugi harbours feelings for her regardless.

Another point that takes away from the show is the relentless padding and repetition. Card games or "duels" against adversaries are stretched out to 3-4 episodes because flashbacks and inner monologues are shoehorned into the episodes constantly. There are times where I genuinely feel like going "GET ON WITH IT!!" I guess that's just an anime cliché though.

Overall, the premise of Yugioh is ridiculously silly but it still holds a special place in my heart (as cheesy as that sounds). LittleKuriboh's Abridged Series has been a bonus to come out of the show's creation.

First, let me just say that if you're a fan of the card game, you probably watch the show anyway. Those who don't play the game should probably pass up this TV series.

(Although I do recommend the first few volumes of the manga (comic) series, through to the first appearance of Pegasus.)

It's worth noting that the Yu-Gi-Oh series airing on TV is in fact the second Yu-Gi-Oh series that was created. This Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters series (known simply as Yu-Gi-Oh on North American TV) was created to push the then-new Konami card game. Thus, the card game is the central theme of the show. If you thought Pokemon was cheesy because it pushed a video game, then you probably wouldn't enjoy this series.

Now... I enjoy the series, and have watched much of it in the original Japanese. If you can get past the 'card game' aspect(and it's been my experience that not many people can), you'll enjoy this series. The English version, aimed more for the younger crowd, has a lot of things changed. (some of the changes were for a good reason) However, a lot of the dialog is (to be bluntly honest) pathetic.

Yes, this series is ludicrous from an adult perspective. The dialogue is bombastic, the plot has more holes than a colander and the card game is ridiculous. It was really engaging to me as a child though. I was always interested in how things would turn out and all the mysteries.

As many other Yugioh fans around the world, I was shocked to hear the news of Kazuki Takahashi's passing.

Like many other fans, I was originally introduced to this series via the 4Kids dub, which despite its heavy censorship was still fun to watch and had some nice voice acting. (And also, an awesome opening)

But yeah, I agree with those reviewers who say the original version is better. A lot of the goofiest parts of the dub make way more sense here, and also the soundtrack is more emotional.

That being said, I think both versions, the japanese and the dub are good and fun to watch, because Kazuki Takahashi made a highly entertaining story and an awesome card game which inspired me a lot during my childhood and teen years.

Thank you for everything, Mr. Takahashi. Hope you rest in peace. And thank you for all the joy you brought to this world making Yugioh (Both the series and the card game)

I have been watching Yu-Gi-Oh for years and the manga is slightly better but the series is definitely something to watch.