title_name=Duel Masters
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デュエルマスターズ
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Duel Masters
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Animanga/Anime| Information
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Waruro Suzuki
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Shogakukan
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KIDS
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October 2002
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52
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'' (デュエルマスターズ ''Dyueru Masutāzu'') is a franchise based on a .
The
Card Game is made by
Wizards Of The Coast .
The Duel Masters manga is written by
Shigenobu Matsumoto , and is published by
Shogakukan in
Coro Coro Comics . It has not been licensed for the U.S. (although there has been an American created comic book by
Dreamwave Productions . The first season and Japanese second season are loosely based on the manga.)
Current English expansions are Base Set DM-01, Evo-Crushinators of Doom DM-02, Rampage of the Super Warriors DM-03, Shadowclash of Blinding Night DM-04, Survivors of the Megapocalypse DM-05, Stomp-A-Trons of Invincible Wrath DM-06, Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction DM-07 and Epic Dragons of Hyper Chaos DM-08, with Fatal Brood of Infinite Ruin DM-09's release in January of 2006.
The anime is about a boy named ). In Shobu's world, the players can bring the monsters to life using a fictional
Martial Art called "kaijudo" (actually a marketing term created to sell the game in America.) Shobu aims to become a "Kaijudo master" like his father, Shori Kirifuda. Shobu fights opponents from the evil temple run by the mysterious Master in Season One. In the American created Season Two, Shobu battles the evil organization
P.L.O.O.P. and their plans to use monsters from the Civilization Realms to take over Earth. In Season Three, Shobu and Co. take on dangerous bad guys at a Duel Masters tournament including the
Black Soldiers and other bad guys.
The first season, produced by Plastic Cow Productions, is most often considered the best season of the show. While the first two episodes were a rather faithful dub of the original, the show became a parody of the card-game show genre by the third episode. This season had the highest production values, and were able to do several visual tricks as a result. For example, many scenes of Rekuta being tossed into the air were greatly expanded on to make them more ridiculous than before, such as when he was sent flying into space (against a live-action backdrop) and crashed into a space station. Another example, when Shobu fought the first guardian, Mikuni, the dub inserted several scenes of Mimi lost in the building and opening several doors only to find strange things, such as a live-action marching band.
The second season is mostly considered the worst, done by Elastic Media Corp. The budget was greatly limited, and as such only the bare minimum of edits could be made. In the previous season, talking scenes could be shortened and lengthened in order to fit jokes, but for this season the jokes were forced to fit in with the mouth-flaps. In combonation with the lack of secondary characters like Mimi, Sayuki, Knight, and Boy George; less jokes in order to fit in the story-related dialogue; and the jokes in general being of lower quality, the season greatly suffered.
The third season, done by
Howling Cat Productions , is widely considered to be getting back on track, despite a similar budget to the second season.
- (切札勝舞 ''Kirifuda Shōbu'') - The show's protagonist. He aspires to become a great duelist like his father. Shobu keeps a positive attitude throughout the series, insisting on dueling for fun as opposed to simply winning. He's brave, strong, and true, just like every other anime hero. He uses a Fire Civilization deck.
- (切札勝利 ''Kirifuda Shōri'') - Shobu's father. He put the burning mojo of duelling in Shobu's blood.
- (切札舞 ''Kirifuda Mai'') - Shobu's mother and Shori's wife.
- (ナイト; ''Naito'') - Shobu's mysterious and soft-spoken mentor. His inner monologue is a source of much of the show's mature and subtle humor. Despite being Shobu's mentor, he is usually unable to assist his student in times of need due to either Shobu's stubborn attitude or Knight being unable to show up at the scene. Knight does not appear in the manga.
- (角古れく太; ''Kadoko Rekuta'') - One of Shobu's close friends. Even though he's an expert at the rules of "Duel Masters," he's a terrible duelist, often going without a single win during a tournament. He's often seen with his portable laptop to keep track of important duels. As a running joke, he is often accidently knocked far into the air--in one (dub only) instance, he was sent flying into space (against a live-action backdrop) and crashed into a space station.
- - Another one of Shobu's close friends, she doesn't duel, but is always present to see Shobu's matches.
- (黄昏ミミ; ''Tasogare Mimi'') - Another member of Shobu's posse. She appeared at first to be an inept duelist but was later revealed as the second temple guardian at the Junior Duelist Center and an expert player. Mimi is also an expert at martial arts and is incredibly smart and strong.
- (白凰 ''Hakuō'') - As a child, he was a cheerful duelist like Shobu. Since then, Hakuoh has become a cold-hearted villain. Later in the series, he is defeated by Shobu and befriends him.
- - The first of the four guardians. He uses a Fire deck, and during his fight with Shobu he purposely copied everything he did in order to throw him off. He lost to Robby Rotten in season three, where his name mysteriously changed to Johnny Coolburns. It was later explained that this (and all other plotholes in the show) are due to alternate dimensions.
- - The third of the four guardians and Mimi's "twin brother." He uses lies and cheating in his duel with Shobu. He uses a Water deck.
- (難波金太郎; ''Nanba Kintarō'') - Former gatekeeper of the Junior Duelist Center. He was fired from his job after losing to Shobu and became one of his friends. Nobody knows how old he is. He carries around a man-purse and an abacus.He lost to Extreme Bucket Man in the finals.
- (黒城凶死郎; Kokujō Kyōshirō) - A self-proclaimed "evil genius" throughout the series. Other characters make fun of his outlandishly styled long hair and all-black leather outfit. He defeated Mimi in the finals but lost to yumama before their official match. He uses a Darkness Civilization Deck.
- (マスター; ''Masutā'') - Little is known about the leader of the evil temple (in the form of the Junior Duelist Center) except that he's always seen in a hooded robe and most of his face is never seen. He is the main bad guy of Season One until Hakuoh was defeated.
- (called simply "George", or "Jōji" (ジョージ) in Japan) - Boy George is a midget in a bear suit and is always seen sucking a pacifier. He rides around in a motor baby carriage and uses a Water Civilization deck. His English dub name is an obvious reference to Culture Club lead singer Boy George (one of the dub episodes is called "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me") in Season 3 he uses a Darkness, Water deck, he also withdraw's from the tournament after losing to Yumama. In Japan, he is a possible reference to/parody of "Johji", ''' Hiroto Honda ''''s infant nephew in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.
- (Dr. ルート; ''Dokutā Rūto'') - Boy George's boss, mad scientist, and expert duelist. He tends to extend some words long and has a deck of Survivor monsters.
- - An evil organization that plot to use monsters from the Civilizations of the Creature World to take over Earth. This organization is seen only in the "second season" that was created for America.
- - A group of duelists that are the opposite form of Hakuoh's White Soldiers led by Robby Rotten.
- - A mysterious girl who can duel and read a book at the same time. She also can stand in the cieling. She also reads a teen heart drop book with 400 pages of pictures of "sassy" cute boys. She defeated Boy George and Yuki right before they were suppose to duel making her win instantly. She defeated Kokujo before their official match.
- - A short duelist who wears a bucket on his head. No one knows if he's male or female. Rekuta thinks that he's/she's annoying.
- - A girl who got into the finals by not dueling anyone, but lost to Shobu in the finals.
- - He's a dueling teachers for babies (even though he's one), he deafeated Boy George and took all his diaper, Boy George defeated him later and took his finals pass. He lost to Yumama before their official match. He uses a light blocker deck.
- "Kaijudo" originates from the word " Kaijū ", meaning monster, and "dō", or "the way." Therefore, "kaijūdō" means "the way of the monster."
- The term "Kaijudo" is specific to North America. It is not used in Japan.
- The name "Duel Masters" is often believed to be a pun on "Duel Monsters" (the name used in the second series anime and English manga for a card game (also known as ''Magic & Wizards'' - that name is a pun off of "Magic: The Gathering") in the '' Yu-Gi-Oh! '' Manga and Anime series.) It actually takes its name from Magic: The Gathering, which had Duel Masters as its codename early in development.
- The first English-language season of the TV series was produced by Plastic Cow Productions. The second season that was created for the American market was produced by Elastic Media Corp. The third season is being produced by Howling Cat Productions (featuring some of the former Saban Entertainment VA's, such as Brian Beacock, Philece Sampler, and Wendee Lee). In the UK, Duel Masters airs on Toonami and used to air on five. In the US, it airs on Cartoon Network.
- The ridiculous titles of the TCG expansion sets are named in parody of other TCGs with strange titles.
- The show is known to break the Fourth Wall for comedic relief.
The "Sacred Lands"/"P.L.O.O.P." storyline is not based on the manga and was created specifically for the American market. The Japanese version has a separate second season entitled "Duel Masters Charge", which is based on more of the manga and features characters that do not appear in the American second season, including a character named "Great Baketsuman." It is unknown when or if the Japanese second season will air in America. If the Japanese second season were to be broadcast in America, it would have to be changed to accommodate the American second season. It is also unknown why a separate second season was created for America in the first place.
As a whole, the Japanese version is more serious than the American version, though it is quite silly itself. While the Japanese version seems to rely more on visual and situational humor, the American version tends to use much more verbal humor. Also, while the Japanese version is mostly a traditional card-game show with much humor, the American version is a flat-out parody of the genre.
