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Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)

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Yu-Gi-Oh!遊☆戯☆王Yūgiō

Genre
  • Action, Adventure, Gaming
Anime series
Directed by

Hiroyuki Kakudo

Studio

Japan Toei Animation

Network

Japan TV Asahi

Original run

April 4, 1998 — October 10, 1998

No. of episodes

27

Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王 Yūgiō, trans. "King of Games", occasionally subtitled "A Game of Darkness" or "The Shadow Games" or incorrectly referred to as "First Season", or "Season Zero" by fans) is the first anime adaptation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series. The 27-episode series was produced by Toei Animation and aired on TV Asahi from April 4 to October 10, 1998.

While this series is not directly connected to Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (known internationally simply as Yu-Gi-Oh!, produced by Nihon Ad Systems and aired on TV Tokyo), both anime series are based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.

Manga plots were re-written so that they could take up an entire episode's worth of time. Also, the level of violence was reduced between the manga and the anime. Finally, a minor character in the manga, Miho Nosaka, became a main character in the first series along with Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki, and Hiroto Honda. Characterization was slightly modified. For instance, Miho is a "ditz" in the anime while in the manga she is a shy student librarian. Also, Honda is Jonouchi's verbal sparring partner instead of his crony in Toei's anime.

New characters and plots, such as those relating to the four game masters, were added, and there are more occurrences of Seto Kaiba and Duel Monsters (Magic and Wizards in the original Japanese manga) than in the corresponding manga. Unlike the second series, the card game (Duel Monsters) is not the sole focus of the show. However, the Duel Monsters rules have been updated, becoming more like those used in the Duelist Kingdom, even though this anime never gets to that point. The last episodes of the series focus on the battle between Yugi and Dark Bakura. This series had different voice actors and different character designs than the second series (e.g. Seto Kaiba's hair is green in Toei's anime). The series has not been licensed for an English-language release.

Yami no Game

In this series, Yami Yugi doesn't challenge people to a duel of Duel Monsters. Instead, he would challenge them to a Shadow Game, or Yami no Game, where he would then explain the rules. However, the person in question would cheat and the Doors of Darkness will open, thus Yami Yugi would do a Penalty Game upon the person, and usually whatever they obsess over the most would be their nightmare, such as their makeup falling off and showing their true face or watches fusing to their being. Duel Monsters was not the main point of the show but was played a few times.

Cast

Japanese character name Seiyū
Yugi Mutou / Dark Yugi Megumi Ogata
Katsuya Jonouchi Toshiyuki Morikawa
Anzu Mazaki Yumi Kakazu
Hiroto Honda Ryotaro Okiayu
Ryo Bakura / Dark Bakura Tsutomu Kashiwakura
Seto Kaiba Hikaru Midorikawa
Miho Nosaka Yukana Nogami
Mokuba Kaiba Katsue Miwa
Sugoroku Mutou Takeshi Aono
Shadi Kaneto Shiozawa
Shizuka Jonouchi Michiko Neya
Gozaburo Kaiba Unshou Ishizuka
Ushio Ryuzaburo Otomo
Miyuki Sakurai Yuri Amano
Ryuichi Fuha Ryo Horikawa
Aileen Rao Miina Tominaga
Heida Atsushi Kisaichi
Ridley Sheldon Chikao Ohtsuka
Ms. Chono Masako Katsuki
Kiwami Warashibe Nobuo Tobita
Kokurano Shigeru Chiba
Continuous Bomber Ryusei Nakano
Risa Kageyama A Wakana Yamazaki
Kageyama sister B Emi Uwagara
Kageyama sister C Konomi Maeda
Tetsu Nobuyuki Hiyama
Daimon Ryuji Saikachi
Imori Megumi Urawa
Dragon Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kaoruko Himekoji Yumi Touma
Pokii Konomi Maeda
Pao Masaya Takatsuka
Detective Hiroshi Ito
School nurse Michie Tomizawa

Episode list

VHS

Trivia

  • Despite being his trump card in the next series, Yugi never played "Dark Magician" in this show.
  • "Unguard Magic" (the Toei equivalent of "Stop Defense") is the only card in English.
  • Characters are more accurate to their manga equivalents.
  • Some manga chapters are packed together in one episode (eg. the 3 chapters with Hirutani occur in only one episode).
  • The Millennium Items are not gold-colored only. In fact, they are colored gold and brown (except for Yugi's Puzzle).
  • Most of the dark games are changed, except for the Dragon Card against Himori and Shadi's tests.
  • Most of the monsters are colored differently, except for "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
  • The card backings show stylised "MW" letters for "Magic and Wizards", even though the characters refer to the game as Duel Monsters.
  • Cards are played on a duel mat with different areas depicted. All these areas give a 30% bonus to monsters placed in the right area.
    • This is similar to the "field power bonus" in the Duelist Kingdom arc in the next series.
  • Only a few duels use Kaiba's virtual reality system to show monsters.
    • Others ideas used to show monsters are puppets, Dark Games, ...
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