Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (And past Yu-Gi-Oh! Series)

[Anacybele]

So, Yu-Gi-Oh! is an anime that's been around since 1996, being older than even Pokemon (1998). I've been a fan for several years, ever since I saw an episode of the first series for the first time. It revolves around the game of Duel Monsters, a card game where players use their monster cards, trap cards, and spell cards (used to be called magic cards) in an attempt to reduce one another's life points to 0. Each duelist (the player) starts with 4000 life points (2000 until the Battle City arc of the original series). I find it to be an awesome game and the coolest card game ever! I just wish I actually had people to play it with. I'm not half bad at it either, though I'm certainly no expert.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is the first series and the longest one so far to date. Its main character is Yugi Mutuo (pronounced MOH-toh) who carries an artifact called the Millennium Puzzle, one of the seven Millennium items. It explains the origin of Duel Monsters and spans Yugi's quest to help the spirit that lives inside his puzzle, as this spirit lost his memories. Joey is my favorite character in this one though, because he's freaking HILARIOUS, yet his dueling skills grow to the point where he's named a legendary duelist in his own right and he can be quite serious. :D Oh, and his Brooklyn accent is amazing. Yami, the spirit, is totally epic too though, especially since he's voiced by Dan Green. :3

This series is succeeded later by Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, which takes place ten years later. It stars Duel Academy student Jaden Yuki, who is quite different from Yugi and his spirit friend, yet shares the same passion for dueling. He's quite the energetic, optimistic kid and always seems to have fun. I didn't think this series was really that awesome until towards the end of it. It does some very unique things with its plot though, like making light evil and turning Jaden himself into the main antagonist. I have to give it some nice credit for that.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's takes place many more years later (it's unknown how many exactly) in a more futuristic version of Yugi's hometown. Domino City is now New Domino City, though it was split into two areas, divided by more than just a river. The main protagonist, and clearly the oldest one so far, is Yusei Fudo, an orphan who lives in the dumpy part of town, He's rather poor, but is one hell of a duelist. This guy is so awesome, he can win a duel without attacking even once. He's got my favorite catchphrase too. ^^ I also think this series is the darkest so far, it managed to scare me a bit at one point. But it's still amazing, imo, almost as good as the original. Crow and Yusei are my favorite characters in this one. ^^

And finally, the newest and current series is Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal! Our new protagonist, Yuma Tsukumo, is almost like Jaden character-wise, as he's optimistic, cheerful, and wants to have fun with dueling. But unlike the other protagonists we've seen so far, he's a newbie duelist and he's clumsy, dimwitted, and falls asleep in school. I also think he's the youngest so far. But when the mysterious visitor from another world, Astral, appears one day during a duel Yuma is having against the school bully, a new tale begins. Astral was sent to carry out an important mission for his world, but lost his memory and forgot what it was.

And so far, this series. Is. AWESOME! I'm totally addicted and I love Astral. He's just freaking awesome despite not having much personality. He starts off as robotic and rather emotionless, but over time, he gains a little more personality, exhibits more emotions, and begins smiling. He also picks up on Yuma's confidence and friendship values. Also, despite his calculating and cool nature, Astral is freaking hilarious sometimes with his "observations" and comments! I can make a list of his lines that have cracked me up so hard that my sides hurt. XD Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Astral can duel circles around just about anybody. He's so skilled at the game that he'd probably give even Yugi and Yami a run for their money. Oh, not to mention that Yuma's Zexal armor when he and Astral combine their might is just freaking COOOL! It looks totally awesome, gives him some amazing power, and lets Astral get a bite to eat. lol Seriously, these two have an awesome friendship, and it's so cool how they grow and develop together, by guiding each other!

I just wish I could've seen the latest episode. But my cable doesn't have the damn channel that shows them. ;_; (watched episodes online instead) Anyone else here a big Yu-Gi-Oh! fan? I have some cards, but I haven't yet gotten around to trying out any of the newer game mechanics, like Synchro summoning. I understand them, but I haven't gotten anymore cards due to not being able to play with anyone. I have a dinosaur deck currently, but I'd like a Fire attribute deck and a Red Eyes Black Dragon. And Flame Swordsman, those two are my favorites. x3

By the way, a bit of trivia. Each of the main protagonists has a catchphrase they often use. Well, one of them actually has two, technically. Can you remember whose is whose? ;)

"It's time to duel!"

"Let's rev it up!"

"I'm feeling the flow!"/"Time to high-five the skies!"

"Get your game on!"

(sorry for the long post, btw, I couldn't help myself lol)

Edited November 16, 2013 by Anacybele

[YoungXehanort]

I love Yugioh, I started watching with the Waking the Dragons Arc. GX is my favorite series as it had the best characters (Bastion was awesome) and the best cards (I still use mainly Elemental Heroes in my decks, though I use the ones from the manga such as Terra Firma).

Gx had the best story and everything was great, 5DS was decent, and Zexal feels a bit disappointing to me (Probably because I have nostalgia for Gx).

[Knight]

I've loved Yu-Gi-Oh since its inception, all though I've fallen out of the anime since the end of Battle City, watching GX and the original series only when I saw it come on, I still play the card game whenever I can. I have a really awesome deck as well, at least I think it is, it's dragon themed. I buy cards on occasion, and sometimes my friends get together for a giant multiplayer duel. I also watch Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, a hilarious parody web series of the original show. I wish it was easier to find people to duel, because I love playing the card game.

[Rainbow Skittles]

Don't forget about the first series anime.

The one we got over here was actually the second one.

[Elieson]

I bought all the original manga, and the shadow games are nothing like what's portrayed on tv.

Still love joey wheeler over all

Series Tier

1>3>4>2

[Ciarre]

I never even attempted to watch Zexal, but I loved the other 3. The dubs were pretty cheesy but I still enjoyed them as a kid haha. I watched most of GX and 5Ds in Japanese though, because finding them on the internet is easier than recording them all.

[Ansem]

yeah first series is pretty great.

gx was good too

card games on motor cycles is kind of edgy for me

i lost track of everything after that

[Ciarre]

card games on motorcycles was actually pretty cool

and Yuusei is also really hot, great bonus.

[Anacybele]

Don't forget about the first series anime.

The one we got over here was actually the second one.

Oh yeah, the series we call Season 0. lol forgot about it since it's been ages since I last watched it. lol

I love the idea of Turbo Dueling! (the whole "card games on motorcycles" thing) I mean, playing an already awesome card game while speeding around a course on a motorcycle or a Duel Board (what Leo and Luna use to do Turbo Duels) with the wind in your face sounds like so much fun! I guess it wasn't popular enough to be brought back in Zexal though.

EDIT: Agreed, Yusei is hot. :3

Edited November 16, 2013 by Anacybele

[ZemZem]

Joey Wheeler kicks ass. Enough said.

[mewyeon]

Yu-Gi-Oh! the original series on 4kidsTV is my forever love. The characters, plot twists, everything about Ancient Egypt...my favorites. The voice acting was amazing, too. Oh, how I loved it. And still do. I'm really glad that they're easy to watch online now, otherwise....I'd be really sad that I couldn't relive those moments.

EDIT: Joey Wheeler is indeed amazing. But I also think every single main and supporting character in that whole series is amazing.

Edited November 16, 2013 by mewyeon

[Anacybele]

Yay for Joey love! Sad thing is, not many of the characters give him enough credit. Especially Kaiba. Kaiba's awesome though, I LOVE his theme song!

[DodgeDusk]

No love for Bakura ]:

It's been a while since I watched the original and GX series. I actually need to pick up where I left off on 5d

Joey and Bakura were pretty cool though. From what I've seen of 5d though, Yusei is definitely my favourite

Edited November 16, 2013 by DodgeDusk

[Anacybele]

Bakura rather creeped me out. xP

But guys, though Joey is undoubtedly the funniest character in the original series, one of the best and most hilarious scenes in it, imo, has to be one featuring Yami, surprisingly. lol

Yugi: Alright spirit, this is where you take over. *switches out*

Yami: *stares stupified for a second and then outbursts comically* ...H-HEY! YUGI! I'M NOT--! YOU CAN'T--! THIS ISN'T A DUEL!

Tea: *looks over confusedly*

Yami: *stares again stupified for a moment* ...Hello!

Just. LOL! XD

[YoungXehanort]

No love for Bakura ]:

It's been a while since I watched the original and GX series. I actually need to pick up where I left off on 5d

Joey and Bakura were pretty cool though. From what I've seen of 5d though, Yusei is definitely my favourite

I liked Bakura as he made a good villain.

Bakura in the abridged series was awesome, Kabuto in naruto abridged was awesome.

They were both white haired and british, also hated by everyone and told to shut up each time they spoke.

I see a pattern here.

[Silver Lightning]

I've known about Yu-Gi-Oh! almost since a little after the time I first got into Pokemon (my cousin got me into it when I went to visit him once when I was seven; I was in after I heard Joey in the dub exclaim "NO! .....That's MY pizza!!!" in his sleep. I think its one of the few quotes I remember). But sadly, most of my knowledge of the main series comes from the few graphic novels and chapters of the manga I read in Shonen Jump, and of course the Abridged Series! The Abridged Movie was my favorite since it had all (then) 3 heroes and I loved Shadyvox's Jaden portrayal, enough to make me want to watch GX at some point. And yes, what little I've seen of him, Yuusei is hawt, so maybe I'll check out 5Ds one day too. Card games on MOTORCYCLES! XD

But for now, its still has the same problem that pokemon has for me in regards to watching it atm:

toooooooo loooooooooooong!!!

[BBM]

I think that while the first series was best overall, the first season, Duelist Kingdom, was pretty dodgy and probably the worst, with stuff like Summoned Skull gaining 1000 atk points in the rain and Weevil's moth getting weaker. The series hit its peak in Waking the Dragons IMO, which was epic as fuck both in terms of quality of duels and character development. Battle City and Dawn of the Duel were still pretty good too though, especially seeing Bakura be the final big bad after being a secondary villain for so long.

GX I felt went downhill with each season. The first season was good, and the second was as well. The third was OK but just introduced like way too many new characters at once and started getting away from the original cast, and then the fourth I couldn't even finish on account of being too blah.

5Ds was pretty good for the first two seasons I think. The third season was okay but wasn't as enjoyable for me personally. Wasn't really a fan of the story. I count the last three seasons all as one because they basically are.

Haven't watched Zexal yet past like the first episode but I've heard it kind of sucks?

I think my main problem with all the series has been a lack of good female characters. The original had Tea, Mai, and sort of Rebecca. Tea is a cheerleader, Mai doesn't win a single important duel other than the one against Joey in WtD, which he throws anyways. Rebecca had no plot importance in anything except the Grand Tournament mini-arc and kind of WtD. Also she was super annoying. Ishizu was cool in the second season even if she wasn't really a duelist, except the Egyptian crew disappeared after the end of the second season and didn't come back until the very end of the show . GX had Alexis but she does shit after the first season and then doesn't even stay to the end of the show what the fuck. 5Ds has Akiza, who was REALLY COOL for the first season, but then suffers basically the same fate as Alexis and then gets mostly replaced by Crow. I guess her role is still marginally better than Alexis's, but I chalk that up to 50 less episodes for her role to decay. And from what I know of Zexal it doesn't have any female duelists at all!!!

[MRDRHAWK]

The original was boss, GX was ass incarnate, 5Ds was aight, never watched Zexal.

I'm weird in that I loved the Orichalcos arc.

[DodgeDusk]

The original was boss, GX was ass incarnate, 5Ds was aight, never watched Zexal.

I'm weird in that I loved the Orichalcos arc.

Dude

Rafiel is like, my third favourite character for some weird reason. The main antagonist (can't remember his name) was pretty underwhelming though

Edited November 17, 2013 by DodgeDusk

[MRDRHAWK]

Dartz was kinda shitty, but fuck if Valon (Varon? I don't remember which was right) & Rafiel weren't baller as shit.

[DodgeDusk]

Dartz was kinda shitty, but fuck if Valon (Varon? I don't remember which was right) & Rafiel weren't baller as shit.

Ha, I remember the duel Valon and Joey had when they ended up wearing suits. I love, yet hate that duel so much

[Anacybele]

Oh, Valon vs Joey was EPIC! I love all of Joey's duels, actually, because Joey. lol

Also, Zexal has some female duelists. Cathy, Dextra, Anna (though she's pretty minor), Rio (who is badass), and maybe more that I don't know about. Cathy is the cat-like girl with a really obvious crush on Yuma. Dextra is badass and is in love with Kite (they ought to be together, imo), so she duels Vetrix in an attempt to protect him, but loses. Anna believes she has a crush on Yuma, but it was really a different boy she liked, but she winds up crushing on Yuma anyway and then saving his hiney in a duel later. xP Rio is Shark's younger sister and she's got some sweet dueling skills. She wins an important duel to get Yuma out of a jam and shows up again later to save his butt alongside Tori and Shark.

Yeah, Yuma's friends come to his rescue quite a bit, most notably Astral, but it's all part of Yuma's growth as a duelist. People aren't giving Zexal enough credit, man. It might not be really awesome in the very beginning, but it gets WAY better! Yuma and Astral's friendship is realistic and beautiful. It's as awesome as Yugi and Yami's.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Anacybele

[mewyeon]

No love for Bakura ]:

I have much love for every character in that show :D :D :D I thought thief king bakura was sizzling hot...idk maybe it was just me ;) I never read the manga or anything but I think I saw a scanlation of one page where he dies near the end. Where Zorc wasn't possessing him anymore so he didn't need the thief king's body? And he just like...screamed for someone to help him as he melted into sand...omgoodness it was so scary...

[DodgeDusk]

I have much love for every character in that show :D :D :D I thought thief king bakura was sizzling hot...idk maybe it was just me ;) I never read the manga or anything but I think I saw a scanlation of one page where he dies near the end. Where Zorc wasn't possessing him anymore so he didn't need the thief king's body? And he just like...screamed for someone to help him as he melted into sand...omgoodness it was so scary...

Eugh... That doe sound pretty bad. That arc is probably my favourite though. I'd say the second arc was but it's wayyyy too long

A fight that deserves a mention in my opinion is Jaiden vs Blair in the first arc. It was... so bad it was hilarious

[Anacybele]

That Jaden vs Blair duel was pretty damn weird. Yet funny though. lol