Yu-Gi-Oh!

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)

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.

I really like this series for its voice actors -- they are just so outstanding, so much better than most other well known Japanese animations! I couldn't give a higher rate, because the storyline is somewhat average and the painting is up and down from episode to episode.

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.

I agree that the manga is better, but the manga is *always* better. Once a show comes here to America the dubbers screw it up. One way or another. Cuz they direct it at little kids and it's not a show for little kids. The duels annoy me a bit too. I like how they develop the characters and the intricate plots, i don't like watching them throw one duel monster card down after another. The friendship thing is okie, except when we get to Anzu(Tea). She exaggerates the whole friendship thing to the point where i wanna gag. I liked Serenity in the beginning too, but she's turning out to be more like Anzu and that part in the battle city finals where she wanted to take care of Mai...*gag* All in all i like it's a great show if you'll just ignore some parts of it(like Anzu...gosh i hate her) I love Ryou Bakura...*huggles plushie*