'', known in Japan and the rest of Asia as '''''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters''''' (遊☆戯☆王デュエル モンスターズ ''Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu'') is an Anime based on the '' Yu-Gi-Oh! '' Manga . It is produced by Studio Gallop and Nihon Ad Systems , and the English adaptation is distributed by Warner Bros. Television Animation and 4Kids Entertainment .
''Duel Monsters'' is not to be confused with Earlier Series Of The Same Name . As the series is the second to be based on the manga, it is often referred to by fans as the "second series". Some sources state erroneously that the first series produced by Toei is a "lost first season", although the two series are unrelated aside from plot continuity.
The success of ''Duel Monsters'' was one of the main factors in creating a real-world version of the game that served as the focal point of the series, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game .
The series began its 224-episode run in Japan on April 18 , 2000 and U.S. on September 29 , 2001 . The series ended its run on September 29 , 2004 . In Japan, the series aired on TV Tokyo . The English version is broadcasted on many channels. In the United States it is broadcast on Kids WB and on Cartoon Network . In Canada , ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' is broadcast on YTV . In the United Kingdom , Mexico and Australia , it is broadcast on Nickelodeon . In Germany it is broadcast on RTL II .
Like the earlier series, ''Duel Monsters'' is mainly about the various battles of a high school freshman named Yugi Mutou through a card game known as ''Duel Monsters'' (''Magic and Wizards'' in the original, although ''Duel Monsters'' is also used). However, ''Duel Monsters'' picks up its focus from where the earlier series leaves off, roughly corresponding to the eighth volume of the manga series.
The plot of the series is divided into several story arcs:
- ''', on his own personal island. Pegasus, using the power of the Millennium Eye, manages to seal the soul of Sugoroku Mutou (Solomon Mutou) away, and it is up to Yugi to save him. Meanwhile, Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler) enters the tournament in order to pay for His Sister 's surgery. Meanwhile, Pegasus and several top executives at KaibaCorp plot to remove Seto Kaiba from the head of his company.
- : In a continued attempt to remove Seto Kaiba from his position as head of KaibaCorp, KaibaCorp's former executives trap Kaiba in a virtual reality game based on Duel Monsters. Yugi and his friends enter the game to save him. The video game '' Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom '' was loosely based on this storyline.
- ''' in a game of his creation, with the title of "King of Games" on the line.
- ''', guardian of the Pharaoh's Tomb, wants the Pharaoh's power for himself, and seeks to defeat Yugi. In the Japanese version, he actually wishes to torture and kill Yugi for revenge and to free his family from serving the Nameless Pharaoh.
- : As Yugi, Kaiba, Jonouchi, and Marik are travelling to the destination of the Battle City Finals, the airship they are riding in suddenly takes an unexpected turn. The main characters find themselves trapped in a virtual reality simulation, in which the former executives of KaibaCorp plan to take their revenge against Yugi and Kaiba.
- ''', Valon and Alister
- : With Dartz's group defeated and no money to return home to Domino, Yugi and company enter a tournament hosted by Kaiba, in his new amusement park, in return for a ride home. With Kaiba Corporation crippled because of Doma's activities, one tournament entrant seeks to finish the job and take down KaibaCorp for good.
- (''' (Dark Yugi in the English Manga and Japanese anime) is ready to find all his lost memories. However, he's in for more than he bargains for when he is thrust into the World of Memory, an alternate reality inside the Millennium Puzzle based on the events that occurred in Egypt 5,000 (3,000 in the Japanese version) years ago. There, the Pharaoh must relive the last days of his previous life, fighting his old enemies and reuniting with his old friends. But his new friends have not forgotten about him, and Yugi and his friends travel inside the Millennium Puzzle to find the World of Memory and help the Pharaoh recover all his memories. However, Yami Bakura (Dark Bakura in the English Manga and Japanese anime) won't let the Pharaoh gain all his memories just yet, as he plans on using the information gained in the World of Memory to gain the powers of the Millennium Items and reawaken an ancient evil that has remained dormant for the past 5,000 years...
- : Most of the quest is complete. Pharaoh Atem has gotten all seven millennium items, acquired all three Egyptian God Cards, defeated Zorc Necrophades in the Memory World, and has found out all about his past, including his name. Now, the pharaoh can quietly leave the mortal world, and join his faithful priests in the afterlife. However, the doorway to the afterlife can only be opened if the pharaoh is defeated in a duel. Yugi takes on the challenge, dueling Atem to let Atem go. Even though Atem would very much want to go to the afterlife, he has a good pride in his skills, and will never let anybody beat him easily.
''Duel Monsters'' serves as a continuation of the earlier series in terms of the story, yet there are differences in the two series where they overlap. In particular, the Death-T fight which is held by Yugi and rival Seto Kaiba , is redone, and Miho Nosaka , a supporting character in the manga and the earlier series, does not appear in ''Duel Monsters''. Whereas the earlier series introduces the characters (by virtue of being adapted from earlier volumes of the manga), ''Duel Monsters'' assumes that the viewers are familiar with the characters from the onset, and scenes referring to chronologically earlier events are redone.
Because of the relative speed between the manga and anime releases, three extra story arcs that are not found in later volumes have been added for ''Duel Monsters'': Virtual World , Waking The Dragons , and Grand Championship .
As the two series are based on the same manga (albeit different parts therein), and the fact that only ''Duel Monsters'' was adapted into English, there has been some controversy regarding ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' as a whole. Some have regarded that the fact that the earlier series was not adapted into English creates a large Plothole in ''Duel Monsters'', as they believe that the earlier series provides the necessary support and development of the series' main characters. However, those opposing this view note the various clear differences between the plot and artwork style would also confuse viewers.
The English adaptation is also widely criticized for the way it is adapted - nevertheless it remains a successful series, although most feel the series succeeded in spite of localization, as opposed to because of it. The changes that were made were frequently done to make the series more understandable (especially in regards to the aforementioned "plothole"), and to remove material which may be considered inappropriate or too mature for its English-language demographic, considered to be younger than its original. These changes include:
- Americanization of character names (e.g. Katsuya Jonouchi , Hiroto Honda , and Anzu Mazaki became Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, and Téa Gardner, respectively)
- replacing the background music to suit a younger demographic (e.g.: upbeat, pop and mostly generic tracks in sharp contrast to the darker, orchestral and melodramatic score of the original Japanese soundtrack)
- reworking the plot in certain parts of numerous episodes, mostly for censorship reasons, but also for unknown reasons.
- removing all instances of Weapon s (like Gun s and Knives , which are often prevalent).
- removing scenes where two or more characters are fighting.
- removing or obfuscating many references to religion, such as the Pentagram or hexagram.
- removing or rewriting scenes where characters die or are in real danger of death (In the English anime, characters are instead threatened with the possibility of going to the Shadow Realm , or in some cases they are "captured").
- removing or editing scenes where monsters undergo some form of violent death (such as being eaten or being stabbed)
- removing scenes where characters make obscene gestures
- editing scenes where a female character or duel monster appears to be nude or might be wearing something a little too revealing.
- changing the setting of the country from Japan to United States .
- removing assorted Sexual Innuendo
- removing much writing in Japanese and English (this resulted in the unusual design of the ''Duel Monsters'' cards in the English version of the series).
- removing any kind of reference that could cause children to develop a bad habit ( Truancy for example).
- To get around FCC rules concerning advertising in shows, as well as to make the show more marketable in non-English countries, all the cards in the show have been painted over to feature only the card illustration, card element and the attack/defence of the card if it is a monster card.
As a reponse to these critics, a separate "uncut" DVD release was commissioned between 4Kids Entertainment and FUNimation , with a new adaptation that is more consistent with the original. Because of the success of the uncut English adaption, there have been developments to bring uncut releases to other series that were similarly adapted into English, although nothing has of yet come of it. The uncut DVDs were pulled from solicitation after Volume 3 "Stolen - Blue-Eyes White Dragon" for no apparent reason, with a variety of explanations coming from, upon cross-examination, invalid sources with little elaboration. Lance Heiskell, a FUNimation represenative, has noted legal rights as the reason for cancelation, although he was unable to expand on it. This appears to be the most likely possibility, given the DVDs' reportedly successful run.
Interestingly, the English adaptation also suffers from the criticism that many monsters are referred to as Dragons - even those that are not considered to be draconic. Some have defended that fanged beasts are among staples of the younger target demographic for the English adaptation, and thus use "dragon" to refer to any type of fanged beast.
''Duel Monsters'' is heavily centered around the card game, with plot details frequently added between game turns. However, there are several main differences between the rules found therein and the rules of The Real-world Card Game :
- The real-world rules correspond to the "new rules for experts" set out by Kaiba at the start of the Battle City story arc - prior to this, a simplified version of the rules were played, where monsters could be summoned without the use of tributes, but in which a player cannot be attacked directly. These earlier rules take considerable artistic liberty in their depiction - for example, allowing monsters to be "partially destroyed", monsters to be played as magic cards, and traps to be disabled as a result of monster effects.
- Some cards are in different classifications in ''Duel Monsters'' as compared to the real-world game - for example, ''Flame Swordsman'' is a normal monster in the series, but is a Fusion monster in the real-world game. ''Spellbinding Circle'' was notably entirely redone as a "trap with magic-card properties", complete with a different function.
- In the Battle City story arc, the "advanced rules" also prevented Fusion monsters from immediately attacking, where there is no such provision in the real game. From the Doma story arc onwards, no such provision exists. By that point, the only difference is the starting amount of life points, which was shrunken for brevity purposes.
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