Anime Review: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 1

See you below the break.

That is an awesome seal of approval, and my back tattoo in due time.

Yu-Gi-Oh!. A series, that when it was introduced in the western world, became something bigger then most had thought it would almost instantly. The series was good, if not fantastic, and the card game was fun and challenging. Then, as with every card game, they expanded the game mechanics. We soon got new types of monsters. Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's introduced Synchro. White framed cards that are similar to Fusion and Ritual monsters. They require a tuner-monster, and can be used in all monster decks.

This is awesome. A new card meant new mechanics, and a new show. Only two shows, three of you count the very original which was never dubbed due to it being too violent, had been made by this point. Duel Monsters and GX. The first will always have the charm due to nostalgia. The later? I don't want to make anyone mad, but I don't care for GX. I prefer anything over GX, with Zexal as the exception. Why? The main character.

In Duel Monsters, Yugi is wiser then his years. His Grandfather has helped raise him right. He knows that the game isn't relied upon just one card and uses that to his advantage, and he appreciates his friends. Jaden and Yuma? They are morons. They are complete morons. While Jaden does become better at the very end, they never dubbed it, so all we got was someone that wanted to duel, and did appreciate his friends, but was lazy. The same with Yuma. They would both sleep in class, get yelled at, and due some of the most stupid things that would piss their friends off, and then they would wonder what they did wrong. What about Yuya from Arc-V? He is young and immature, but he is more wise then those two.

Then we come to Yusei. Compared to every other hero, he has street smarts. He has grown up an orphan, lived in a literal trash heap, been betrayed by one of his friends, and deals with constant prejudice on a daily basis just because of where he lives. That is impressive right there. Every other hero has had it easy. Jaden may deal with his teacher because of the dorm house he lives in, but that is luxury to what Yusei deals with. Some think of Yusei as trash, and anything he has might "infect" them. This is some heavy handed shit.

Since I have kept you waiting long enough know, here is my review on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. I hope you enjoy it.

The series starts out with a announcement about a duelist named Jack Atlas, a D-Wheeler (bare with me here as I am watching the Japanese version of the show) who is called the king. He has been challenged by a unknown duelist. At the same time we see a duelist riding through a tunnel and wouldn't be wrong to assume that this is the challenger. It isn't the challenger. It is series protagonist Yusei Fudo, and he is testing his D-Wheeler only to find it is missing one part that prevents it from running perfectly. It cuts back to Jack and he has defeated his opponent easily.

Yusei looks at Neo Domino City, knowing that he has to go there one day.. After arriving back at his abode, Yusei's friends were watching Jack's duel, and are afraid that Yusei might be mad. He doesn't mind, but he is upset at the D-Wheel not working right. Soon they here another friend of theirs, Rally. Yes Rally is a boy, but he looks like a girl, just like how Crowler looks feminine.

With faces like ours, we might as well be girls.

Yeah. Anyway, Rally happens to have the piece that Yusei needs. That is awesome. Rally stole the piece. Not awesome. Turns out Rally is marked with a criminal mark. They are used to track criminals in Satellite and make sure they behave. If they find they have done something wrong, they will find them and arrest them. Security shows up and is ready to arrest all of them on the spot. Yusei has a signal-jammer. He uses it to let his friends get away while he lures security. There he meets Tetsu.

Now I know I have seen him before, but where? Oh, wait!

... More on this later

Tetsu is ready to arrest him, but Yusei is able to talk him into a duel. If Tetsu wins: Yusei is arrested. If Yusei wins: he goes free. Tetsu agrees, despite the fact the other officers don't like it, and the two duel. Here we see the first duel with Speed World used, and is pretty interesting. They can't use regular spell cards or else they will take 2000 points of damage. Ouch. They have to use Speed-Spells, which require Speed counters in order to be used. I would review the duel turn for turn, but for the sake of not going nuts, here it is from the wiki.

Yusei Fudo vs. Tetsu Trudge
Both players activate the Field Spell Card, "Speed World".
Turn 1: Tetsu Trudge
Trudge draws "Assault Dog" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1200/800) in Attack Position. He then Sets a card.

Turn 2: Yusei Fudo
Yusei's hand contains "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow", "Sonic Chick", "Equip Shot", "Speed Spell - Vision Wind", and "Backup Soldier". Yusei draws "Speed Warrior". During the Standby Phase, the second effect of "Speed World" activates (Yusei's SPC: 0 → 1; Trudge's SPC: 0 → 1). Yusei then Normal Summons "Speed Warrior" (900/400) in Attack Position. Yusei then enters his Battle Phase and activates the effect of "Speed Warrior", which doubles its ATK until the end of the Battle Phase ("Speed Warrior": 900 → 1800/400). "Speed Warrior" then attacks and destroys "Assault Dog" (Trudge 4000 → 3400). Trudge then activates the effect of "Assault Dog" to Special Summon a second "Assault Dog" (1200/800) in Attack Position. At the end of the Battle Phase, the effect of "Speed Warrior" wears off ("Speed Warrior": 1800 → 900/400). Yusei Sets a card.

Turn 3: Tetsu Trudge
Trudge draws. During the Standby Phase, the second effect of "Speed World" activates (Yusei's SPC: 1 → 2; Trudge's SPC: 1 → 2). Trudge then Tributes "Assault Dog" in order to Tribute Summon "Handcuffs Dragon" (1800/1800) in Attack Position. "Handcuffs Dragon" attacks "Speed Warrior", but Yusei activates his face-down "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow" to negate the attack, however Trudge activates his face-down "Wiretap" to negate the effect of "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow" and return it to Yusei's Deck face-up. "Handcuffs Dragon" then destroys "Speed Warrior" (Yusei 4000 → 3100).

Turn 4: Yusei Fudo
Yusei draws. During the Standby Phase, the second effect of "Speed World" activates (Yusei's SPC: 2 → 3; Trudge's SPC: 2 → 3). Yusei then Normal Summons "Sonic Chick" (300/300) in Defense Position and Sets two cards.

Turn 5: Tetsu Trudge
Trudge draws "Montage Dragon". During the Standby Phase, the second effect of "Speed World" activates (Yusei's SPC: 3 → 4; Trudge's SPC: 3 → 4). Trudge then sends "Assault Dog", "Guard Dog", and "Tactical Espionage Expert" from his hand to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon "Montage Dragon" (?/0) in Attack Position. Due to the effect of "Montage Dragon", its ATK becomes equal to the combined Levels of the monsters used to Special Summon it times 300. The combined Levels' total is ten ("Montage Dragon": ? → 3000/0). "Handcuffs Dragon" attacks and destroys Yusei's "Sonic Chick". "Montage Dragon" then attacks directly. (Yusei 3100 → 100). Yusei loses three Speed Counters (Yusei's SPC: 4 → 1).

Turn 6: Yusei Fudo
Yusei's hand contains "Speed Spell - Vision Wind" and "Backup Soldier". Yusei draws "Junk Synchron". During the Standby Phase, the second effect of "Speed World" activates (Yusei's SPC: 1 → 2; Trudge's SPC: 4 → 5). Yusei then Normal Summons "Junk Synchron" (1300/500) in Attack Position. He then activates his face-down "Graceful Revival" to Special Summon "Speed Warrior" from his Graveyard (900/400) in Attack Position. Yusei then tunes "Speed Warrior" with "Junk Synchron" in order to Synchro Summon "Junk Warrior" (2300/1300) in Attack Position. "Graceful Revival" is then destroyed since "Speed Warrior" was removed from the field.

Yusei then activates "Speed Spell - Vision Wind" to Special Summon "Speed Warrior" from his Graveyard (900/400) in Attack Position. Due to the effect of "Junk Warrior", it gains ATK equal to the ATK of all Level 2 or below monsters Yusei controls ("Junk Warrior": 2300 → 3200/1300)[Notes 1].

"Junk Warrior" attacks and destroys "Handcuffs Dragon" (Trudge 3400 → 2000). Trudge loses one Speed Counter (Trudge's SPC: 5 → 4). The effect of "Handcuffs Dragon" activates, equipping itself to "Junk Warrior" and decreasing its ATK by 1800 ("Junk Warrior": 3200 → 1400/1300). Yusei activates his face-down "Equip Shot" to equip "Handcuffs Dragon" to "Montage Dragon" ("Junk Warrior": 1400 → 3200/1300) ("Montage Dragon": 3000 → 1200/0) and force "Junk Warrior" to battle "Montage Dragon". "Junk Warrior" then attacks and destroys "Montage Dragon" (Trudge 2000 → 0).

Easy to read, I hope, and all in a nut shell. Tetsu honors his word and lets Yusei go, but not before vowing to crush him. The episode ends with Yusei acknowledging that Jack is next.

And that was the first episode for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. I get why a lot of people don't like it. The Speed Spells and all that stuff is confusing, and the D-Wheels have some people think this is a way to appeal to those kids, and while I understand that, it isn't. The series was quickly slammed upon when it came out by many people that it was a sad attempt to revive a dead series. While the shows have done terribly when dubbed, this was no exception. There 154 episodes, and 111-122, 130, and 137-154 were never dubbed. The series did poorly in the international version, and I see why. Some of the changes were just asinine and shouldn't have been done at all. What was a rather engaging series was ruined to make it safe for western audiences. While death is always a touchy subject, it is a key part of the show. Yusei lost both his parents on the day he was born. In the dub? They are trapped in the underworld, but are still alive. Sounds like the characters are way different, and they kinda are. Yusei in the sub is more serious and aware of what could go on. In the dub he is overly happy for his friends with no real depth. That is not to say one is better then the other, but it is better when the writer gets their point across. Instead of "westernizing" it, why not let it be what it was. When they changed something that was already good just to please a small group of people you can neuter what could have broken several western standards. Instead it conformed to them and ruined what was good. I will admit that some parts are hard to watch in the dub, and that is mainly because of the script. So what if his parents are dead? So what if where he lives is overrun by a corrupt police force? So what if they have to reduce a characters bust size and hide the cleavage? Actually, that last part makes sense. This show has so many themes from a upper class that wants to have the lower class live in poverty to blatant misuse of authority. This show had so much going for it, and CW wanted a quick buck. It makes me sad that they ruined so many good series, and this was one of them. I take comfort in knowing that it, and several laws, screwed them over. Trying to make it for kids. YUSEI IS STABBED WITH PART OF HIS D-WHEEL AND NEARLY BLEEDS TO DEATH!!! What part of that is for kids?

It is bitter-sweet watching these nearly 8 years after they came out in their proper language. They have stood the test of time and are worth a watch if you have the free time. The characters are enjoyable, and the easter eggs are every where. Tetsu is the bully form the first series. The one that was picking on Joey and Tristan and Yugi saved them from. That is Tetsu. That is awesome. Doing the math would make nearly 50-60. Pretty neat. If you want to watch it go for it. Here is the Crunchyroll link: LINK, and I will see you all hopefully soon.

Always here to help.