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Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light

From Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light

Promotional film poster.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light遊戯王デュエルモンスターズ 光のピラミッドYūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu Hikari no PiramiddoYu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters: Pyramid of Light

Genre Adventure, Gaming
Anime movies
Produced by

Michael Pecerlello

Studio

Warner Bros.

Runtime
  • Japan 101 mins
  • United Kingdom 86 mins
  • United States 90 mins

Yu-Gi-Oh! the Movie: The Pyramid of Light, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters: Pyramid of Light is an anime film based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. The director of this film is Ryosuke Takahashi.

The characters and naming are the same as the English version of the Yu-Gi-Oh!, or Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters television show.


Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The Pyramid of Light (right) and its Stone Tablet on display at the Domino City museum. Note the three Egyptian Gods Slifer, Ra, and Obelisk engraved on the Tablet

The events of Battle City have just concluded, and Yugi now owns all three Egyptian God Cards. Seto Kaiba longs to finally defeat him, and he has a plan. He suspects that since Maximillion Pegasus created the Egyptian God Cards, he would have also created a way to beat them. Just in case.

Kaiba heads off to Pegasus's castle and challenges him to a duel. The stakes are the following: if Pegasus wins, he gets Kaiba's three "Blue-Eyes White Dragons"; if Kaiba wins, Pegasus hands over the card that can beat the Egyptian Gods. Kaiba wins, and Pegasus must fulfill his wager: he picks up two cards from Pegasus's decks. However, Pegasus only created one card to beat the Egyptian Gods, so where did the other card come from?

Meanwhile, Yugi Muto and Téa Gardner, seeking refuge from a mob of duelists wanting to face Yugi for the Egyptian Gods, stumble into Domino Museum, where they discover a new attraction on display. It's called the Pyramid of Light, and it looks a little like the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi's Grandpa Solomon Muto (who also happens to be visiting the museum) reads an inscription on the side of a sarcophagus (The eye that sees what's yet to come, its vision shall be fulfilled, unless blinded by events predetermined, thus light & shadows both be killed), triggering Yugi to have a strange vision about his Millennium Puzzle, the Pyramid of Light, Anubis, and Kaiba. After he wakes up, he finds the pyramid has been stolen, the sarcophagus is now empty, and Mokuba standing outside. Mokuba says that Kaiba wants Yugi to bring his duel disk to the KaibaCorp Duel Dome immediately.

Yugi does so, transforming into the Pharaoh on the way, and finds Kaiba ready to duel. Seto asks Mokuba to seal all the exits, forcing Yugi to duel him, but not before Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor find their way in to watch.

The duel goes on for what seems like an eternity, and Yugi is starting to suspect that there are dark forces at work - especially when Kaiba activates a trap card called the "Pyramid of Light", which not also bares a striking resemblance to the pyramid in the museum, but also prevents Yugi from summoning any Egyptian Gods! Before long, Kaiba has his "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon" on the field, but to Yugi's surprise, he sacrifices it to summon a monster known as the "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon", which is even stronger!

Kaiba could win the duel there and then, but he wants to humiliate Yugi by wiping him out with his own Egyptian Gods! His "Pyramid of Light" removed the gods from play, and he wants to play "Return from the Different Dimension" to get them under his control. Of course, to do that, he needs to destroy his Pyramid of Light first, otherwise it would just destroy the gods again! Kaiba commands his "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon" to use its "Shining Nova" effect, which allows it to sacrifice itself to destroy anything on the field - and he aims it at the Pyramid of Light. Suddenly, a ghostly voice calls out, "This I cannot allow!", and the Pyramid stays exactly where it is. Then, a man rises up from behind Kaiba, throws him aside, and takes over the duel himself. And he has the Pyramid of Light around his neck.

It's Anubis, the Egyptian Lord of the Dead, whom the Pharaoh destroyed 5000 years ago. But now he's back with his secret weapon - "Theinen the Great Sphinx"! On top of this, Téa, Joey, Tristan and Yugi are all trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle, leaving the Pharaoh to duel all alone. Putting all his faith into the cards, Yugi draws the "Double Spell" card, which allows him to discard his other spell card to activate "Monster Reborn" from the Seto's Graveyard. He uses it to revive "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon", who can then destroy the "Pyramid of Light" (after it was weakened by Yugi from inside the Millennium Puzzle). With the Pyramid gone so is the Great Sphinx, and Anubis is seemingly defeated. But, a giant Jackal arises from the remains of the Pyramid: it is the ancient Egyptian representation of Anubis the Lord of the Dead.

Kaiba and Yugi join forces, putting all their strength into the "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon" card, and using Shining Nova to destroy Anubis once and for all. On top of it all, Pegasus was back to help them, and gets them out of the explosion in time.

[edit] Relation to Canon

Like in the Dragon Ball Z universe (actual canon movies excepted), Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light creates some continuity problems within the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga/anime series. In the movie, it is explained Anubis (アヌビス Anubisu) was killed by Pharaoh Atem 3000 years ago (5000 in the English anime), and then resurrected when Yugi completed his Millennium Puzzle. In the Japanese version of the movie, the Duel between Seto and Yugi is a ploy masterminded by Anubis with the objective to have the King of Light (Seto Kaiba) defeat the King of Darkness (Dark Yugi). Anubis seeks revenge against the Pharaoh and wants to be resurrected as the "King of Destruction", using Kaiba to become the new king and rule the world.

In the first series anime however, Yugi's completion of the Millenium Puzzle follows a different storyline: Yugi was beaten up by Ushio who had also beaten up Jonouchi and Honda, and he completed the puzzle while beaten up to become Dark Yugi. In addition, during the Dawn of the Duel arc Anubis never made an appearance and was never shown to be killed by Pharaoh Atem (the battle must either have been off-screen, or have never taken place at all). In fact (and this despite being designed by Kazuki Takahashi himself), Anubis never made any appearances in the anime or manga: he is therefore considered a non-canon character.


[edit] Mistakes in the Movie

In the English version of the movie, the makers made many mistakes, however most of them were fixed when it aired in Japan.

  • Right after the Opening Title, Many People are watching a Screen Showing Yugi Dueling Kaiba in the first Episode, It shows him draw Exodia's head but the card is in Japanese.
  • Pegasus plays "Ultimate Offering" when dueling against Kaiba, so that he can summon more Toon monsters in one turn at the cost of 500 LP per monster. However Toons are Special Summoned, not normal summoned: Ultimate Offering was completely unnecessary (this was not changed when it aired in Japan.)
  • When Joey challenges a group of duelists wanting to have a go at Yugi and his God Cards, the first challenger Summons "Injection Fairy Lily" on the first turn. The entire card itself was either vertically reversed, or placed upside-down while horizontally reversed (not to mention that you normally would not be allowed to attack on the first turn).
  • Kaiba's plan for a 'perfect victory' by summoning all three of Yugi's God Cards could not normally work, as "Return from the Different Dimension" only affects cards removed from play that you own. Since they were Yugi's cards, Kaiba would be unable to summon them.
The two copies of "The Winged Dragon of Ra"
  • When Kaiba uses "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon's" 'Shining Nova' to destroy his "Pyramid of Light", although the attack failed, we see Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon disappear and later Yugi plays "Monster Reborn" to re-summon it from the Graveyard. However, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon is shown to appear next to Anubis for a short time, after it had already died following the activation of its 'Shining Nova' effect. Additionally, Yugi couldn't have revived "Blue Eyes Shining Dragon", since its effect states that it can only be summoned by tributing "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon".
  • When Anubis's "Sphinx Teleia" destroys Yugi's "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian", Sphinx Teleia's effect was not activated, which would have decreased Yugi's Life points to zero. However when "Andro Sphinx" destroyed Yugi's "Watapon", Andro Sphinx's effect was activated (this was not changed when it aired in Japan.) In addition, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian should not have been destroyed thanks to its special ability: Teleia's attack points were higher than 1900.

[edit] Featured Duels

[edit] Simulated: Seto Kaiba vs. Yugi Muto

(Duel already in progress; this Duel is not real and the result of a simulation by KaibaCorp's computer)

Simulated: Seto Kaiba vs. Yugi Muto

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba vs. Maximillion Pegasus

Seto Kaiba vs. Maximillion Pegasus

[edit] Maximillion Pegasus's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Maximillion Pegasus's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Joey Wheeler vs. Unidentified Man

Joey Wheeler vs. Unidentified Man

[edit] Unidentified Man's Turn

  • Summons "Injection Fairy Lily" (400 ATK / 1500 DEF) and attacks Joey directly (NOTE: this would be illegal in the real game, since an attack cannot be declared on the first turn).

(The rest of the duel and perhaps another are not shown; it can be assumed that Joey beat his opponent(s)

[edit] Joey Wheeler vs. Unidentified Boy

(Duel already in progress)

Joey Wheeler vs. Unidentified Boy

[edit] Unidentified Boy's Turn

[edit] Joey Wheeler's's Turn


[edit] Yami Yugi vs. Seto Kaiba/Anubis

Yami Yugi vs. Seto Kaiba

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

  • Two turns have passed since "Card of Demise's" activation: in three turns Seto must discard his entire hand.
  • Passes.

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Seto Kaiba's Turn

Yami Yugi vs. Anubis

[edit] Anubis's Turn (Seto Kaiba's Turn continued)

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Anubis's Turn

[edit] Yami Yugi's Turn

[edit] Cards Used in the Movie

[edit] Monster Cards

[edit] Spell Cards

[edit] Trap Cards


[edit] Trivia

  • The movie aired in theaters in North America, Europe, Australia, and later in Japan. After the late Japanese theatrical movie release on Christmas Eve, the movie aired in Japan on TV Tokyo on January 2, 2005. The Japanese version is known to run 11 minutes longer.
  • The English version of the movie was completely edited when it first appeared in theaters in the US, but the Japanese language version (released in Special Screenings and later released in theaters in Japan) differs in content, uncut, and is complete with cards in Japanese. The Japanese version is in 101 minutes and the English version is originally in 90 minutes. Many scenes in the English version were omitted, switched, and some were altered.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light hit theatres in North America before the Battle City Finals episodes aired, somewhat spoiling the ending for those who saw the movie.
  • VIZ Media released an "ani-manga" comic book version of the movie with the Egyptian God Card "Slifer the Sky Dragon" as part of their Shonen Jump lineup.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light is not to be confused with the 30-minute Yu-Gi-Oh! the Movie that was released in Japan and produced by Toei Animation.
  • The original Japanese story calls for the Pharaoh's past to take place "3000 years ago", but the English translators misread this as "3000 BC"! The English version thus puts the story 5000 years ago, but some believe this was intentional: nothing is known about Ancient Egypt 5000 years ago, and therefore the non-existence of Pharaoh Atem cannot be proven (or disproved).
  • In the United States, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light is the only part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe to have the text on the cards included. Unlike the Japanese original version, the English Dub of the TV anime series completely edited the text out of the cards due to FCC regulations, expanding the art on them to fill the gap. The cards in the movie also retained the visual rarity that their real-world card game counterparts have, with the rarer cards having gold lettering on them to match those of an Ultra Rare card. In addition, the Life Point counters used in this duel are the same used in the original Japanese series.
  • In the beginning of the movie, it is said that Yugi defeated Seto Kaiba to win the finals of the Battle City Duel Monsters tournament. This is not true, for the final of the tournament was against Marik Ishtar / Dark Marik (scenes of Yugi receiving the final Egyptian God Card from Marik are however correctly included).
  • Much like the early Pokémon theatrical releases, the movie released limited-edition promotional cards alongside the tickets bought for the movie. To further stretch the card game tie-in, an exclusive movie pack was released in card shops to help garner interest in the movie. The DVD versions stated that there were 3 promo cards included in the DVD. This was not true for many versions, as it required a large amount of payment to be sent to 4Kids Entertainment to be able to receive those cards.
  • The movie character, Anubis, does not exist within the anime or manga.
  • Much against Yu-Gi-Oh! North-American habits, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light also featured an unusual amount of violence compared to the anime series:
    • Contrary to the usual concept of Shadow Realm, the words "Kill" and "Die" are used for the very first time. "Die" is used by Anubis, "Killed" is used by Grandpa Muto's reading of the prophecy.
    • Violent comments like "Soon worms will feast your flesh, just as they did on mine" and "You will be destroyed" are used by Anubis.
    • No censorship is applied on mummies being dismembered or Yugi's silhouette getting "stabbed" by "Peten the Dark Clown".
    • The cards are displayed in their TCG form, but "Dark Magician Girl" displays a pentagram (as per the original card) instead of her usual censored 'ruby'.
  • Although the musical score (background instrumentals) was released for the Japanese version of the movie, the score for the English version was never released.
  • Interestingly, Anubis's appearance in the Duel between Yugi & Kaiba occurs after both players have lost a total of over 4000 Life Points (5100 to be exact). 4000 is the standard number of starting Life Points in the anime.
Facts about Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of LightRDF feed
GenreAdventure  +, and Gaming  +
Series nameYu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light  +