Genre:
Magical item infused with awesome powers mixed with a little bit of “marketable media.”
Series Info:
There are... ??? episodes (each one about 20-25 minutes long; 30 minutes with commercials) and it has been licensed in the U.S. (more about that in the Random Facts section).
Soundtrack Info:
There probably is one, but I haven't researched it yet.
Random Facts:
As far as I can tell, the millennium puzzle toy thing only makes Yugi taller, his hair bigger, and his voice deeper. I don’t think it actually makes him any cooler, nor does it endow him with any special power... except that he can blast peoples' minds into oblivion (more about that in the next paragraph).
Because it has marketable media (namely the Duel Monster Card Game), only the episodes with said game are shown in the U.S. Those of you out there who are interested in this series should watch the episodes without the card game—they’re more amusing. For example, I believe it was in the first episode, we see Yugioh and some guy fighting on a rooftop. We see that he and the other guy are tied around the waist to the same rope, which has been thrown over and around the rooftop spire. Yugioh lays some normal playing cards (think Bicycle cards) on the roof facedown. The rules are simple, but I can’t remember them exactly—basically, if you pick a certain type of card, you take some number of steps toward the edge of the roof and if you pick a different type of card, you take some number of steps toward the spire (and safety). Of course, Yugioh wins and, as the guy plummets toward the river below, Yugioh shoots a mind blast at the guy, causing him to go insane. Pretty cool, huh?
Quick Explanation:
When Yugi activates his millennium puzzle piece, he becomes Yugioh*.
Summary:
Seeing as I've only watched snippets of a couple episodes in English and the first episode in Japanese, I'm not really clear on what this series is about. However, I'll give it my best shot...
As far as I can tell, Yugioh is about Moto Yugi's quest to "become a man," so to speak. The first few episodes, we meet Yugi after he's found his millenium puzzle part. We learn about how he used to be picked on all the time, but how he can defend himself now thanks to that puzzle part. We also learn that he is an avid Duel Monsters Card Game player (think like Magic: The Gathering, or Pokemon... but with more confusing-- perhaps inconsistent-- rules and a crazy life point system)-- in fact, he's one of the best. Such a player would certainly attract some of the higher powers, right? Of course-- in fact, he attracts the attention of Pegasus (I have no idea how the names in the English dub correlate with the names in the original Japanese), the creator of the game, who invites our hero to play in a tournament. When Yugi refuses, Pegasus makes him an offer he can't possibly refuse-- he traps Yugi's grandfather in another dimension (pretty compelling argument, eh?). Well, seeing as Yugi's a really good player, it should be easy to win and get his grandfather back, right? Wrong. Kaeba Seto, an equally awesome player is in the tourney too and he has all of the infamous Blue-eyes White-dragon cards (three of the original four because he tears one up) under his control. With the help of his friends, will Yugi be able to get his grandfather back? Will Exodia (a five-card creature-- you have to draw all five parts in order to call upon Exodia, the most powerful creature, period) be played ever again? What is the deal with Pegasus anyway-- is he just jaded? And what's up with his eye? Heck, what's up with the millenium puzzle? Will Yugi be able to beat Seto? Will I punch the next guy who says, "trust in the heart of the cards," in the face? I'll answer the last question-- yes. The answers to all of the other questions will be answered if you watch the series.
Review:
1/5 stars
The idea is kind of neat, I guess-- the whole millenium puzzle thing, that is. The characters are developed enough so that we understand their motivations and whatnot, but they're really whiny (think Tidus from FFX). Unfortunately, most of my experiences were with the English dub and I'd like to say that American voice actors suck. Also, if you watch the English dub on tv like me, you become increasingly aware that the only reason why they show this series is because they want to make money off the card game. I really can't recommend this series, unless you're really young (less than 10 years of age) because that seems to be the target audience. However, if you plan to watch it anyway, I would recommend that you watch the entire series in Japanese.
*Yugioh- It should probably be spelled, "Yugiou." For a while, I thought it should be "Yugiyo"-- as if it's just an enthusiastic way of saying "Yugi." However, I recently saw the name written out in kanji and it makes sense as "Yugioh."
