Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

This article is about the anime series. For the video game series, see List of Yu-Gi-Oh! video games.

Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cover of the first DVD volume, featuring the protagonist Yugi Mutou in the foreground and the Duelist Kingdom arc's antagonist, Maximillion Pegasus (Pegasus J. Crawford) in the background
遊☆戯☆王デュエルモンスターズ (Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu)
Genre	Adventure[1] Fantasy[1][2] Science fiction[1]
Anime television series
Directed by	Kunihisa Sugishima
Produced by	Hidetaka Ikuta Naoki Sasada Noriko Kobayashi
Written by	Junki Takegami (#1–121) Atsushi Maekawa (#122–144) Shin Yoshida (#145–184, #199–224) Akemi Omode (#185–198)
Music by	Shinkichi Mitsumune
Studio	Gallop
Licensed by	List AUS: Magna Pacific (2003–2012) Roadshow Entertainment (2012–present) NA: 4Kids Entertainment (2001–2012) Konami Cross Media NY (2012–present) SEA: Odex Medialink UK: Manga Entertainment
Original network	TXN (TV Tokyo)
English network	List AU: Network Ten, 9Go!, Nickelodeon BI: Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Sky 1 CA: YTV IE: RTÉ Two PH: Cartoon Network, ABS-CBN, Studio 23, Hero, RPN, C/S 9, GMA UK: Sky One, Nickelodeon, ITV1 (CITV) US: The WB, Cartoon Network, Fox, The CW, Nicktoons ZA: SABC South Africa, SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3
Original run	April 18, 2000 – September 29, 2004
Episodes	224 (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters
Studio	Gallop
Licensed by	NA: 4Kids Entertainment (2006–2012) Konami Cross Media NY (2012–present)
Original network	AU: 9Go! US: Kids' WB, Fox (4Kids TV) ZA: SABC South Africa, SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3
Original run	September 9, 2006 – November 25, 2006
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Anime films
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions
Other series
List of all Yu-Gi-Oh! series Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Other media
Video games Trading card game

Yu-Gi-Oh!, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Japanese: 遊☆戯☆王デュエルモンスターズ, Hepburn: Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu) and alternatively subtitled Rulers of the Duel in the United States and Canada, is a Japanese anime series animated by Studio Gallop based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series written by Kazuki Takahashi. It is the second anime adaptation of the manga following the 1998 anime television series produced by Toei Animation. The series revolves around a young high school boy named Yugi Muto who battles opponents in the Duel Monsters card game. The series begins from chapter 60 in volume 7 before loosely adapting the remaining chapters of the original manga by making story changes that conflict with the events of the manga canon.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 2000 to September 2004, running for 224 episodes; A remastered version, highlighting certain duels, began airing in Japan in February 2015.^[3] An English-language localization of the anime series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment, and aired in the United States from September 29, 2001, to June 10, 2006, on Kids' WB. Twelve extra episodes, which is American-produced, aired exclusively for the Western audience in mid-late 2006 shortly after the conclusion of the main series.

The series has since spawned its own metaseries. Duel Monsters would be succeeded by Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!. Three films based on this anime series have also been produced: Pyramid of Light (2004), Bonds Beyond Time (2010) and The Dark Side of Dimensions (2016).^[4]

Plot overview

Main article: List of Yu-Gi-Oh! episodes

Season 1

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (season 1)

The story follows Yugi Muto, a boy who completed an ancient Egyptian artifact known as the Millennium Puzzle, which led to him to inherit an alter-ego spirit. After defeating his rival, Seto Kaiba, in a game of Duel Monsters, Yugi is approached by Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters, who uses the power of another Millennium Item, the Millennium Eye, to kidnap the soul of Yugi's grandfather. Joined by his friends Joey Wheeler (Katsuya Jonouchi), Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda), and Téa Gardner (Anzu Mazaki), Yugi enters Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom tournament in order to defeat Pegasus and free his grandfather's soul.

Season 2

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (season 2)

Yugi learns that the spirit dwelling within him is a nameless Pharaoh from ancient Egyptian times, who doesn't remember anything of his past. Yugi enters Kaiba's Battle City tournament in order to obtain the three Egyptian God cards needed to unveil the Pharaoh's past. Along the way, Yugi encounters more Millennium Item wielders, including Marik Ishtar, the wielder of the Millennium Rod, and his elder sister Izhizu Ishtar who possesses the prophesying Millennium Necklace.

Season 3

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (season 3)

The first twenty-four episodes of the season form an original story arc that sees Yugi and his friends get sucked into a virtual world run by Noah, the illegitimate stepbrother of Seto and Mokuba and son of Kaiba's adoptive father, Gozaburo. After returning to the real world, the finals of the Battle City tournament commence.

Season 4

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (season 4)

Produced during the time Millennium World was being written, in a new, original story arc, the Orichalcos drains the power from the Egyptian God cards and begins gathering souls in order to revive the ancient dragon monster serpent, Leviathan. Yugi, Joey and Kaiba are each given a legendary dragon card to fight the Orichalcos and its leader, Dartz.

Season 5

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (season 5)

The final season is equivalent to Millennium World in the manga. However, the first half focuses on anime-original story arcs released during the time the final chapters of the manga were being written.

After the Orichalcos has been eliminated, in another original story arc, Yugi and his friends battle in the KaibaCorp Grand Championship to face off another of Kaiba's rivals, Zigfried. Then, Yugi, his friends, and Solomon travel to India only to be taken to the world of Capsule Monsters.

The latter half of the season sees Ryo Bakura, the owner of the Millennium Ring, overcome by the dark spirit within the Ring. When Yugi and his friends go to Egypt, they find themselves sucked 5,000 years into the past, where Pharaoh must battle Bakura and his evil essence, Zorc the Dark One. After returning to the present day, Yugi and Pharaoh duel each other in the ultimate test.

Localization

See also: Dubbing § Localization

The English Yu-Gi-Oh! logo

In April 2001, 4Kids Entertainment obtained the merchandising and television rights to the series.^[5] In its adaptation, character names, settings, and other aspects were changed. The show's visuals and sound effects were replaced, and a new music score was used. In addition to explaining these changes, 4Kids' senior vice president of digital media, Mark Kirk, also explained during an interview with Anime News Network that U.S. television broadcast laws under the FCC dictated that the "Duel Monster" cards in the anime were not allowed to look exactly like the real cards that are sold; otherwise, the show would legally be considered a infomercial rather than an animated television series, and thus the cost to air it during daytime hours would become exponentially higher.^[6]

An album containing some tracks from the English dub music entitled Yu-Gi-Oh! Music to Duel By was released on October 29, 2002, on DreamWorks Records on Audio CD and Compact Cassette.^[7]

An uncut version, featuring an all-new English dub track and the original Japanese audio, began release in October 2004, in association with Funimation Entertainment. Only three volumes, comprising the first nine episodes, were ever released. 4Kids would later release the uncut Japanese episodes on YouTube in March 2009,^[8] but were forced to stop due in August of that same year, due to rights issues.^[9]

On March 24, 2011, TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems filed a joint lawsuit against 4Kids, accusing them of underpayments concerning the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchises and allegedly conspiring with Funimation, and have allegedly terminated their licensing deal with them.^[10] This led to 4Kids filing for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code.^[11][12] Although 4Kids had managed to settle the case in March 2012,^[13] they ended up selling their rights to the franchise, among other assets, to Konami. Konami currently distributes the series and its spin-offs, in addition to producing English dubs through its renamed subsidiary, 4K Media Inc.^[14][15][16]

Streaming

In July 2009, 4Kids announced plans to release the original, Japanese version of the anime series with subtitles on their YouTube channel. However, In August 2009, these episodes were removed due to legal issues with ADK (NAS' parent company) and Shunsuke Kazama, the Japanese voice of Yugi.^[17][18] On July 11, 2015, the Japanese version of the series began streaming on Crunchyroll.^[19][20] The news came over a week after an earlier announcement that streaming of subtitled episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX would begin on August 1, 2015.^[21]

Cast

See also: List of Yu-Gi-Oh! characters

Major cast

Role	Japanese		English[22]
			4Kids Entertainment (2001-2006)		Voiceovers Unlimited (2001-2002)
Yugi Mutou/ Yami Yugi	Shunsuke Kazama		Jay Snyder		Chuck Powers
Katsuya Jounouchi	Hiroki Takahashi		Joey Wheeler
			Vinnie Penna		Dwayne Tan
Anzu Mazaki	Maki Saitou		Tea Gardner
			Amy Birnabum		Alison Lester
Hiroto Honda	1-51	Takayuki Kondou	Tristan Taylor
			1-10	Sam Riegel	Brian Zimmerman
	52-224	Hidehiro Kikuchi	11-224; uncut	Greg Abbey
Seto Kaiba	Kenjirou Tsuda		Eric Stuart		Christian Lee
Mokuba Kaiba	Junko Takeuchi		1-184	Tara Sands	Christian Lee
			185-224	Carrie Keranen
Ryou Bakura/ Yami Bakura	1-40	You Inoue	Ted Lewis		Chuck Powers
	41-224	Rica Matsumoto
Suguroku Mutou	Tadashi Miyazawa		Solomon Mutou
			Maddie Blaustein		Chuck Powers
Pegasus J. Crawford	Jirou Jay Takasugi		Maximillion Pegasus
			Darren Dunstan		Brian Zimmerman
Mai Kujaku	Haruhi Nanao		Mai Valentine
			1-144	Megan Hollingshead	Alison Lester
			145-224	Erica Schroeder
			uncut	Kathleen Delaney
Shizuka Kawai	Mika Sakenobe		Serenity Wheeler
			Lisa Ortiz		Alison Lester
Dinosaur Ryuuzaki	2-59	Kin Fujii	Rex Raptor
			1-144	Sam Riegel	Brian Zimmerman Christian Lee
	131-224	Yuichi Nakamura	145-184	Sebastian Arcelus
			185-224	Tony Salerno
Insector Haga	Urara Takano		Weevil Underwood
			James Carter Cathcart		Brian Zimmerman
Ryouta Kajiki	Daisuke Namikawa		Mako Tsunami
			Andrew Rannells		Dwayne Tan
"Bandit" Keith Howard	Hajime Komada		Ted Lewis		Brian Zimmerman Christian Lee
Shadi	Nozomu Sasaki		Vinnie Penna		Brian Zimmerman Chuck Powers
Rebecca Hawkins	Kaori Tagami		Kerry Williams		Alison Lester
Arthur Hawkins	Saburou Kodaka		Mike Pollock		Chuck Powers
Ryuji Otogi	Ryou Naitou		Duke Devlin
			Marc Thompson
Ishizu Ishtar	Sumi Shimamoto		Nell Balaban		Alison Lester
Marik Ishtar	Tetsuya Iwanaga		Jonathan Todd Ross		Christian Lee
Rishid Ishtar	Konta		Odion Ishtar
			J. David Brimmer		Brian Zimmerman
Noa Kaiba	Chisa Yokoyama		Andrew Rannells		Taaz Gill
Gozaburou Kaiba	Tetsuo Komura		98-184	Richard Will	Chuck Powers
			185-224	Ted Lewis
Saruwatari	Masahiro Okazaki		Kemo
			Eric Stuart		Brian Zimmerman
Isono	Masami Iwasaki		Roland
			1-127; 149-224	David Wills	Brian Zimmerman Chuck Powers
			128-148	Vinnie Penna
Dartz	Yuu Emao		Vinnie Penna

References

1. Wolf, Ian (November 17, 2014). "Yu-Gi-Oh! Volume 1". Anime UK News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
2. Ulstein, Stefan (August 13, 2004). "Yu-Gi-Oh!". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
3. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 22, 2014). "2016 Yu-Gi-Oh! Film Teaser Recaps 20 Years of Manga, Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
4. "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie Pyramid of Light". YuGiOh! World. October 13, 2015. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
5. "4KIDS ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO YU-GI-OH!". 4Kids Entertainment. April 19, 2001. Archived from the original on August 25, 2001. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
6. Bertschy, Zac. "Kirk Up Your Ears". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
7. "4Kids Entertainment and DreamWorks Records Sign Yu-Gi-Oh! Record Deal Yu-Gi-Oh!: Music To Duel By Album to Hit Stores October 29, 2002" (PDF). 4kidsentertainment.com. October 3, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
8. Loo, Egan (March 18, 2009). "4Kids Posts 2 Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes in Raw Japanese". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
9. Loo, Egan (August 22, 2009). "4Kids Stops Streaming Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
10. "TV Tokyo, Nihon Ad Terminate Yu-Gi-Oh! Deal, Sue 4Kids". Anime News Network. March 29, 2011. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
11. "4Kids Files Shareholders' Report on Yu-Gi-Oh! Lawsuit". Anime News Network. March 31, 2011. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
12. "4Kids Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". Anime News Network. April 6, 2011. Archived from the original on May 30, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
13. "Yu-Gi-Oh! Lawsuit Settled Between 4Kids, ADK, TV Tokyo". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
14. Loo, Egan (June 16, 2012). "Konami to Get 4Kids' Yu-Gi-Oh! Assets Under Proposed Deal". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
15. "4Kids Sells Yu-Gi-Oh!, CW Network-Related Assets Jointly to Konami, Kidsco". Archived from the original on October 7, 2014.
16. "Konami Explains Transition of 4Kids' Yu-Gi-Oh Assets". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
17. "Removal of Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes was due to Nonrenewal of Japanese Voice Actor's Contract by ADK". Word Press. August 24, 2009. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
18. "Official Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes Removed from YouTube, Never to Return Again". Word Press. August 21, 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
19. Luster, Joseph. "Crunchyroll Adds "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Season 1 with English Subtitles". Crunchyroll News. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
20. "Crunchyroll Adds English-Subtitled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
21. "Crunchyroll To Stream English Subtitled "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX"". Crunchyroll News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
22. "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 23, 2021.

External links

• TV Tokyo Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters site (Japanese)
• NASinc. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters site (Japanese) ^{[dead link‍]}
• Nicktoons US website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
• Nickelodeon UK Yu-Gi-Oh! webpage at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia