Yu-Gi-Oh
Yu-Gi-Oh (Japanese:遊戯王, yűgiô, yuugiou in Romaji, Japanese word for the "King of Games") is a popular Japanese anime and manga franchise that involves characters who play a card game called "Duel Monsters," wherein each player purchases and assembles a deck of "monsters" in order to defeat one another.The Yu-Gi-Oh manga, created in 1996 by Kazuki Takahashi, was one of the most popular titles featured in Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump and is still running today. The anime was first broadcast beginning in 1998 and still runs on Japanese TV Tokyo and is expected to reach the 200th episode barrier. In recent years, both the manga and anime have also been brought to the United States. The manga runs in Viz's Shonen Jump and the anime is broadcast as part of Kids WB, on Cartoon Network and in syndication in many other places.
The Yu-Gi-Oh franchise has since grown to incorporate the trading card game featured in the anime and manga, a series of video games by Konami, toys, and many other products.
Table of contents |
2 Criticism of Yu-Gi-Oh 3 Yu-Gi-Oh card games 4 External links |
(Japanese name listed first, English name listed second, when applicable.)
Yu-Gi-Oh runs into two distinct sets of criticism depending on the audience. The first concerns the changes that 4Kids, the American distributor, made to Yu-Gi-Oh for its American release. The names were changed, but there have also been many edits, some of which are obvious even without having seen the unedited version. These include removing all instances of weapons (like guns and knives, which are often prevalent) and assorted sexual innuendo. However, these changes are mostly attributed to the differences in sensibilities between the U.S. and Japan.
The second major criticism of Yu-Gi-Oh comes from adults and anime fans at large who see Yu-Gi-Oh as nothing more than a vehicle to sell their game cards and other products. However, this criticism is usually levelled by people who have not read the manga. In the original manga, Yu-Gi-Oh did not even include Duel Monsters as a regular plot vehicle for quite a long time (the American manga release in Shonen Jump is currently up to #26, which is half a year in the Japanese version - and there has only been one instance of the game Duel Monsters). Only after Yu-Gi-Oh become popular, was Kazuki Takahashi asked to modify Yu-Gi-Oh to feature more of Duel Monsters.
Important Characters and Terms
Criticism of Yu-Gi-Oh
Yu-Gi-Oh card games
Yu-Gi Cards is a game based on the series involving the characters attempting to become the best at the card game. The main point of note, is that unlike other television shows, books, games and films which have spawned card games (such as Pokemon, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek and Star Wars), the Yu-Gi-Oh TV shows consist in the main of the characters playing the exact game which can be bought in shops. Related card games include Yugi Moto's Cards, Seto Kaiba's Cards, Pegasus' Cards and Joey's Cards.