The Peak of Yu-Gi-Oh | A Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's Retrospective
2024 ж. 20 Мам.
912 401 Рет қаралды
I never thought I'd say that my favorite Yugioh is the one about motorbikes, sinister gods commenting on the evils of classism, and robots sent from the future, so instead I made an entire video essay about it.
Twitter: / superfoxcade
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Thanks to Sylphy for various art assets
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0:00 Intro
4:46 Card Games on Motorcycles
10:34 4Kids Dub
18:47 World Building
27:19 Team 5D's
31:47 Dark Signer
35:46 Missed Potential
42:25 World Grand Prix
50:11 Time Travel
57:12 Ark Cradle
1:05:30 Epilogue
"And anyone who's late will be disqualified. Mokuba, make sure Wheeler's late." 20 years later, and that STILL gets me lol.
And then you have little kuriboh using this line in abriged and putting a disclaimer this is actual 4kids dub XDXD
The filler sucks, but Kaiba is a freaking savage in it. Especially in his duel against Zigfried.
@nitsuA_LH i don't know man. I really enjoyed it. After the prior arc, it was nice to see the characters having fun before everything gets serious again
Me, as the scene appears: Ah, it’s the “make Wheeler late” line. Classic. Me, after Kaiba actually says the line: [laughing so loud that I have to pause the video]
And then you find out he actually did by fucking with Joey's dualist rank
"No one cares if Jaiden beats the monkey. It's, what the monkey represents." That is simultaneously the most ridiculous and profound line I've ever heard anyone best describe Yugioh's insanity with
sorrry foxcade, but _I_ care if Jaiden beats the monkey!
@@Falsekaiba As long as we don't have to see him spank it.
bet the monkey plays an eldlich deck
I care if he beats the monkey
@@XV098 He plays Dragoon
Something I appreciate about 5ds is that it felt like the writers actually played the card game. They weren't afraid to let characters use wierd strategies and gimmick decks. I specifically remember an episode where Yusei tricked his opponent into thinking he was bad by throwing away just about his entire deck, only to play blasting the ruins and end the game that turn.
Try ocg structures is the best series in terms of duels (tough is manga only)
Apparently the director of 5Ds actually played the TCG. So you also have characters using technicalities like chain blocking
Team Taiyo's duel remains one of my favorites of all time for this reason. They already established the characters as using more complex combos than past shows only to bring in a team using shitty low level normals and ancient trap cards. And yet Team Taiyo put up a decent fight using mostly their primitive cards (and an absurdly gimmicky boss monster.)
thats kind of what i dont appreciate tbh, zexal and arc v ans especially vrains actually got me interesting in strategy and archetypes theres so many archetypes in arc v that it really show cases different strategies and boss monsters in a cool and interesting way they didnt just summon stardust for the millionth time
@@dim2120 VRAINS actually used up its cons as a series that was not probably written before into a pro that series that actually teaches real life mechanics. I still remember learning that 2 Trickstar Lycoris can be summoned using a single Candina. Well, that also led to Firewall being missing in the entire season 2 and 3 though.
Jack is such a comedic treasure. Him being so stuck up his own ass, after being dethroned and abandoned and having no finances, still drinks is over priced Blue Dragon coffee and actively works himself into debt with his expensive taste. I love the hubris of his character
The 'magic glue' line from the dub lives in my head rent free.
He's definitely good for a laugh when you've had a bad day and I think he's super cute
5DS is when young me really understood how much 4kids had scrubbed the series. When Yusei loses, falls off his bike and has to go to a doctor, my child brain couldn't process the protagonist having bloody shrapnel removed from his stomach. But at the same time it made me like the series even more.
Think there might be something seriously wrong with the way American children are brought up. Not being able to learn from stories such as this or the ending of GX, or many other non-children card game related, certainly can make have its consequences.
Not to mention cutting the true ending to the series, which is funny in a sense since the dub ends with them cheering but in the sub five seconds later after when the dubbed ended, shit starts hitting the fan.
@@AhidoMikaro really, THAT’S what you got from 4kids dubs
@@redhood2594 overanalysis mixed with personal beliefs can make anyone sound insightful.
I feel like 4kids didn't really hurt 5ds that bad until they started skipping episodes in the second season. I don't remember anything that really got in the way of the story before then. Even with the shrapnel incident you mentioned, we still see Yusei fall off the bikez so the main idea is there. It's just less gory. Now that I think of it, some kids who watched 5ds probably got hurt playing cards on their bicycles. Like it just had to have happened.
The Child: *Screaming in Agony while being electrocuted* “Don’t worry, the child is not in pain, he is actually creating the static through telekinetic”
It's still better than Sailor Uranus and Neptune are cousins. Failed censorship is better than censorship that hides nothing, and also makes it worse by adding incest. The only competition is the 'jelly donuts' scene, because not only did that not need to be 'censored', 4Kids could even have passed off the rice balls as 'poketreats' or something unique to the pokemon world, if they were worried that kids would be confused. Not that they weren't confused by those things being called donuts.
@@Sines314 wait what happens in sailor moon??
@@blackmage665 Pretty sure Uranus and Neptune are girlfriends, or something like that
@@blackmage665 Uranus and Neptune are a couple, but since Sailor Moon came out way before LGBT relationships were more accepted in anime, they localized it into them being cousins, but it was done so poorly that most people either realized "Oh wait this was supposed to be a relationship" or they thought it was a creepy incest type deal, basically ruining both of the characters.
@@Sines314 Disney’s Frozen is worse in the incest department. It’s hard not to see Elsa’s attraction to her own sister across the Frozen series.
"He has some brusing on his abdomen" "Is he gonna make it doctor?" "Its a long shot" Damn 4kids really teaching kids bruises are life threatening
They absolutely can be if the bruising occurs at essential arteries (which will eventually cause your heart to stop, thus killing you). Thankfully cases like that are rare.
Check his pulse, Yugi!
actually if you burst an organ, like the spleen, all you will see is bruising on the abdomen and that's pretty life threatening.
@@crushingonI swear internal damage is terrifying
I lost a family member to a motorcycle accident. He was joyriding with his daughter, and they took a tumble. He took the fall for his daughter and never told anyone about the pain he had in his chest or the weird bruising, because he didn't think much of it. Turns out he broke a rib and it punctured an organ. His death was preventable.
Rest In Peace, Kazuki Takahashi. Your masterpiece will NEVER be forgotten. #RipKazukiTakaHashi
5ds ost will always be my favorite of all yugioh shows
Love your art man 👍 Keep up the great work.
CRAZY, keep on driving! motto hageshiku
@@railgum7392 hashire! Kurikaisu koto nande, dekinai ONE WAY ROAD
1. plastic tree - mirai iro 2. clear mind 3. yusei fudo OST 4. OZONE vistlip 5. Izayoi batoru my personal favorite osts, absolute bangers
True it is one of my favourite yu gi oh series.
Fun fact: Junk Warrior and Red Dragon Archfiend's last face-off is referenced in the art of Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend from ARC-V, where its right arm and horn are damaged from the encounter, even though Yusei doesnt canonically appear in that world
Favorite visual detail of a monster in the game
omg i didnt notice that, btw that attack was epic
It's pretty good detail. Now, if only they didn't completely miss everything good about 5D's characters in that show...
SCRAP FISTO!
@@Foxcade It's also, fun fact, represented in Scarlight's effect. The original RDA can only sweep away monsters in Defense Position, those cowering from Jack's power (or, to use the name of the effect, his ABSOLUTE POWER FORCE!). Scarlight, however, is seemingly designed to be impossible for Yusei to repeatedly revive weak monsters in Attack Position and use magnet effects to keep RDA from harming them; Scarlight burns away weak Special Summoned monsters with its Absolute Power Flame, exactly the thing Yusei used to best him. Plus, Scarlight was actually Scar-Right in Japanese, because its right arm was in that scarred, bony cast. Similar details include ZeXal's Kite being the only survivor from the main story, given that he was the only one prepared for war after the timeskip in that series. Plus, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon has the exact same chant as Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, with exactly two words changed. Photon Dragon (ZeXal): "Galaxy shining in darkness, embody the light of hope and become my servant!" Cipher Dragon (Arc-V): "Galaxy shining in darkness, embody the demon of revenge and become my servant!"
I think 5DS is my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh series, it’s the type edgy that never feels too overbearing.
It's just the right amount of edge
And it's the only Yu-Gi-Oh series where the protagonist can actually throw hands
@@kurosan0079 If you count Atem, it was shown in the Millennium World arc that Atem was a warrior king. He was just dark mage type.
I still remember thinking how Akiza trying to start turbo dueling was such an amazing idea for her character
5ds is indeed peak yugioh. Mature plot and themes, dragons, evil cults, darkness, edge, all in a cyberpunk setting. Definitely my favourite yugioh series.
And arguably the starting point of the most fun duel mechanic. Synchros were the absolute best imo.
5D's was the most realistic ygo show in terms of tone and real-life issues. None of the others can compete. Proof of that was when season two was going to be the end of ygo altogether. That is. Until 5D's got popular.
Definitely in my top 3 but one is above it...
@@chrishusted9296 i'd argue that xyz was more fun and flexibel but zexel was really bad while 5ds was peak yugioh
I could never quite decide on whether this or GX is my favorite in the series, but what I can say for certain is that the 5D’s era produced the best single player video games the franchise has to offer.
"The fact that the Clear Mind insert song was removed from Shooting Star Dragon's first summoning is war crime that some former 4kids producer will answer for someday" I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that feels this way.
CRAZY KEEEP ON DRIIIIIIVING MOTTO HAGESHIKU
Which is why they stopped dubbing anime
the fact that he also didn't use it in the video is also kinda sad :( welp, check yourselves out guys! its bangers!
i never went through this tragedy thankfully because they didn't remove it from the german dub. Also, the episode where Jack gets red nova draogn isn't in the english dub for some reason either
@@nikraa77 It was probably because the entire Red Nova Dragon/Crimson Devil arc was literally unserviceable to 4Kids standards, so they just didn't dub the arc and came up with an excuse to barely tie up loose ends.
5ds will forever be one of my favorites in the yugioh anime series. R.I.P. Kazuki Takahashi. Thank you for creating my childhood and changing my life.
20:40 You forgot to mention that the dichotomy is very intriguing. Crow and Jack are Younger than Yusei, this is known by the fact that Crow and Jack are confirmed to be born in Satellite, as in the beginning we learn it's shocking that Jack is from Satallite. Which is crazy because in the beginning you think Jack is from Neo Domino where it's the reverse that Yusei is from Neo Domino and Jack is from Satallite. Also, we learned that Yusei was born before Zero Reverse and as jack left them behind. 5Ds was the best story since it has the most layered and world building is amazing.
5D's ending was one of the rare instances of a Shonen anime leaving the viewer learning a mature lesson. Bonds are what you lean on, but you have to learn to break away and forge your own path. It only took basically another watch over to get this message way after the series long ended, back then I was only in it for the duels and the cards.
I don’t really like when people call anime original shows Shonen, but since yugioh is originally a manga I’ll let it slide.
Umhh... Shonen anime OFTEN leave a matre lesson... that fact it's as clear as day - once you read shonen often -your comment just made me cringe and had to response.
@@thomasffrench3639 Shounen can be anime or manga. It's all about target audience.
@@thomasffrench3639 shounen is a genre(intertwined with target audience) Shounen jump does not monopolize the term Shounen, HECK THERE ARE OTHER MANGA MAGAZINES USING THE TERM SHOUNEN IN THEIR TITLE. ITs like saying "i dont like when people call original movies Young adult"
@@weberman173 so Rent-A-Girlfriend is the same genre as Chainsaw Man?
The ending of 5D's really got me on tears dude. I value my friends a whole lot. So that ending is one of those tough pills to swallow that eventually we have to move on.
it was a bummer tho that 5Ds didn't have a 10 years after special that would involve them having a reunion of sorts
@@andre51605 or maybe a movie like dark side of dimensions
@@Zerosenpai25 Given how they've pretty much alienated all of their legacy fans with the recent seasons that are aimed only at children, I'm hoping Konami will eventually give us GX and 5Ds movies to bring us back into the mix. Though I doubt it, as the current state of the marketing world seems to be focusing more and more on children, since they don't have the attention span to notice when their attention and loyalty is being exploited by corporations
@@darkpyro786 yeah but who knows maybe they'll throw us a bone eventually
I think this will change soon... mostly because no children are playing yugioh so while the show might get some ratings it will completely fail to sell cards. they'll have to bite the bullet that they're too damn complicated to be a "children's" card game anymore eventually lol@@darkpyro786
Phenomenal retrospective on a great series. Sub 5D’s is a work of art. Surprised you didn’t mention the progression of Yusei and Aki(za)’s relationship over the series. The “two people who obviously like each other, never actually end up anything more than friends, and are forced to move away from one another when life takes them down two separate paths” theme is one of the most matured concepts I’ve ever seen played out in a shonen anime. It’s a more realistic tale that contradicts common storybook narratives.
I mean they definitely kissed in that last scene.
Lets be honest. They coulda made the relationship work. Man drives a motorcycle at a professional level.
Tbf it's left pretty open. Akiza is implied to want to come back and Yusei wanted to stay so when his friends come back they will be proud of saving the city. There's potential for them to bond even if it will take 6 or 10 years. Yusei is only 17 years old
@@desuwa1994 Yusei is actually over 18. When he's first arrested and arrives at the Facility, a screen is opened showing his personal info including his age at 18. Considering the time progression over the course of the series, he's probably around 20 by its end.
@@JayceCH.oh they could have absolutely done this, but you’re talking about a bunch of shonen anime writers who don’t exactly navigate romance well. I’m pleasantly surprised they did as well as they did with it honestly. 😂
5Ds is so deeply ingrained into my heart that I started tearing up as soon as Yusei's battle theme started playing ffs
Btw Leo's duel with Aporia is basically like Joey vs Marik. In a sense of showing character development. I mean Kaiba literally gave Joey props and deep down knew Joey would have won if not for the shadow duel aspect.
That and Joey gave Marik a Panic attack, forcing him to throw up.
yess lua is based
I loved Leo right from the start, yeah he tends to lose alot but that's not from a lack of trying. He gives every duel all he's got and he get's some really awesome moments throghout the series even when he loses at the end. Despite not being a signer and being a kid he gave Devak a real run for his money throughout that duel and made it easy for Luna to finish it up.
I don't know that it's physically possible for a real human to have less chill than Kaiba had. Mans was on that salt and savagery 100% of the time.
You've never played League of Legends then.
@@astranix0198 Imagine if Kaiba played LoL
@@requiem6465 He'd probably buy Riot and add a Blue Eyes Champion only to restrict access to that character on his account only, then proceed to create a KC tournament series where he steamrolls everyone else publicly until someone shows up with Teemo and humiliates him.
@@HintsV2 I like that timeline.
I cracked up too hard at Kaiba telling Mokuba to make sure Joey's late.
One think that I really like is Yusei's and Jack's ace monsters having polar opposite effects. Stardust Dragon sacrifices itself to protect the rest of your cards, which refects Yusei himself, while Red Dragon Archfiend destroys every other monster on the field, sometimes including your own, kinda like how Jack had to step over Yusei to get out of Satellite. Now that I think about it, it's the same thing with Akiza, with Black Rose Dragon's effect destroying everything on both fields with it's summoning, mirroring Akiza's own powers running rampant.
Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's remains my favorite iteration of the series. This video sums up my thoughts on it all very well, especially the world-building. One thing I do wish you touched a bit more on was decks. The decks in 5D's further the themes so well. Yusei: As you said, Junk is a representation of Yusei's entire life philosophy: nothing in life is worthless, and friends together can accomplish the impossible. Of course, synchros in general support this theme of the show. Weak monsters that cannot do anything on their own can together form endless combinations to create solutions to any problem. Junk Warrior gains power from weak monsters, demonstrating how even the seemingly weak and worthless can support a person. Stardust Dragon represents Yusei's sacrificial nature. From the very first episode, we see Yusei take the heat for his friend, stoically putting himself in danger so that his friends may be safe. Jack: Jack's deck is about power, fitting for his role as the King, a showman. A hyper-offensive approach is fun for the audience since a duel can swing wildly back and forth. By forgoing defenses, he allows for the opportunity to take large amounts of damage and get behind in a duel, allowing for an underdog comeback victory through quick summoning of Red Dragon Archfiend. It's also a representation of his supreme confidence in his strength as the King, which of course he eventually needs to confront once he's no longer that. Red Dragon Archfiend itself is a great representation of Jack as he is at first. The destruction of its own allies that haven't attacked showcase his Social Darwinian philosophy at first, that he was justified to throw away his friends to get ahead and that Yusei was weak for staying behind for their friends. This obviously contrasts with Junk Warrior's effects since this is the primary rivalry in the series, though Stardust itself directly counters Red Dragon Archfiend to show the show ultimately favors Yusei's point of view. Aki: A rose has its thorns. Aki's one of the most beautiful female characters we've seen in Yu-Gi-Oh, but she's also the most damaged and dangerous. Like a flower, she's fragile in spite of the thorny exterior she uses to hide her weakness. The rest of her deck is all use to facilitate Black Rose Dragon, a self-destructive monster that also holds the ability to force a defenseless being into battle. Both effects relate to her identity as psychic duelist. She cannot help but force unwilling participants into fights when she duels. All her affectations of being the Black Rose Witch only serve to hurt her even while they destroy those who disdain her. Crow: Sell Blackwings. JK. Crow and Blackwings should be obvious in design, but thematically, they're similar in his desires for freedom. He wishes for both himself and the orphans to fly away from Satellite. The OTK style of the deck works well to counter the defensive nature of Security decks, highlighting how often he must engage with them. Fuck Black Winged Dragon. It makes no sense. I much prefer Blackwing Armor Master. The armor is like how Crow's main goals lie in protecting those around him, and its effect lies in supporting others after taking or dealing a blow. He's there to support his friends but not necessarily lead them. Rua: Morphtronics are basically Transformers; in essence, they're toys, fitting for the most immature of the main protagonists. They're also prone to disruption due to requiring specific conditions to be in place to even work at all, showing Rua's naiveté. He thinks up many idealistic situations that never really pan out. He's a child basically. Power Tool Dragon is the same. It's a dragon that's clad in basically toys that it will need to shed to reach its full potential in the same way one must shed one's immaturity to become an adult. Rua is *the* coming-of-age character in 5D's. Ruka: There's not much to say here. They're Spirits for her abilitiy to speak with Duel Spirits. Honestly, Ruka gets dealt a terrible hand in Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. She never wins on her own, and the villains she face are almost always the least interesting of the bunch. Ancient Fairy Dragon works on its own merits, though. Its ability to pop a field spell lets it directly counter Earthbound Immortals, completely crippling them in the anime and destroying them in the actual game. It makes total sense that they'd prioritize locking her away. Sacrificing the Battle Phase to summon a weak monster also works for her pacifistic nature as the leader of the Spirits. I could go into the many incredible villains as well, but there are just too many to list. My favorite villain deck is definitely... Z-One: What more fitting way to represent his nihilism and nigh-divine power. The Timelords represent his complete control over time, obviously, but they further represent just how depressed he got from the utter futility of all his plans to save the future. The Timelords have a massive focus on ignoring battle and reverting things back. Nothing Z-One did could ever truly change human nature, the hubris that led to the eventual destruction of the future. In the process, he was slowly stripped of everything he had: his identity, his followers, and eventually even his final friends. The loneliness caused by losing everyone is also represented by how he cannot Normal Summon one while he controls monsters. I also love how his deck counters Meklords because he was so focused on stopping the immediate causes of the apocalypse that he never addressed the underlying problem (more accurately, he gave up). For all his power, his path is fundamentally flawed. In fact, the deck itself is wholly committed to enforcing the same nihilistic despair that Z-One felt to convince others that his path was correct. The truth is that even he himself didn't truly believe that his way was the correct one since he kept undermining his own goals. The deck is actually there to convince himself. Yusei's duel has him eventually destroy all the Timelords. It's a complete refutation of everything that the Timelords stand for because ultimately, Yusei also needs to save Z-One from the latter's own despair. Oh, I just absolutely love 5D's themes and just how much so many aspects of it build upon them. The show truly is the peak.
This
i personally was heavily invested in Carly. i remember watching her death on an internet Japanese TV tuner, awake at 3 in the morning to watch the latest episode, only to watch in shock as she's shot out of the building. If doing analysis of her and her deck, i'd say that the Fortune Fairies represented her rather well; seeking out the truth and future by any means, even if powerless in and of themselves and herself. Of course, this gets warped into the Fortune Ladies, an archetype that has so many effects that instead are based on or rooted in the past, Fire and Water needing to be special summoned by a Fortune Lady effect, Dark bringing back past Ladies...and her battle with Jack is, instead of finding the truth, trying to FORCE a truth.
I wanted to add to Aki's character depth of her being the Black Rose Witch, symbolizing the nature of how all witches were once feared as the most powerful beings on earth during the salem witch trials. To the point they were despised and persecuted. All of this ties well to Aki, being a modern-day "witch" with her psychic powers. The Black Rose motif signifies magic and death. Mostly represented by her Black Rose Dragon, death in its nuke effect and magic in its second effect to wilt away a defending monster's power. But as we can visibly see with her duel against Sherry, her psychic powers don't just hurt people. It can also heal them as well, akin to how the actual psychic monsters in the card game all have effects revolve around healing lps and powerful destruction effects at the cost of lps.
@jaymiechan carly's misfortune was led by her own curiosity for the truth to get closer to Jack. Which is one of the reasons why I really didn't like her character. Just the run-of-the-mill obsessive fangirl in every generic harem anime. Glad her relationship with Jack didn't go anywhere. The girl was going to let the world go to hell just to be with Jack... Like, how selfish can she be...
@@Evil_Beauty Witches were never feared as "the most powerful beings on Earth". They were feared as evil, and consorters with evil. And the Salem Witch Trials only hanged about 20 accused witches (who in reality were likely honest Christian men and women caught up in a hysterical craze).
I do absolutely consider this the peak of yugioh. From the intro alone you can tell that this was such a special anime. I think that Jack atlas is one of the best characters they've ever created and I find myself really relating to him after he has his redemption arc. Overall these just too many good things to say about 5ds and how it handles it's plot in a rather mature and respectful manner with high stakes and parts that made me genuinely worried about the characters. I personally dont think any yugioh show has quite peaked as high as 5ds did and even if I do like zexal a lot I can admit that it isn't the best and that 5ds truly made bring a yugioh fan awesome. Also card games on motorcycles too.
Jack's arc at the beginning was awesome. The man forgot the hood and his point in life. The way Carly sparks a newborn optimistism in him was inspiring honestly. Become a king by your definition, control your life 🔥
Zexal would've been great if it wasn't for the forced "LoL Astral uses numeron code to rewrite reality so everyone could have a happy ending, except for Mr. Heartland for some weird reason" ending. The weight of the final duels of both Kaito and Nash/Shark evaporated from the story after that.
I think Zexal peaked as high just 5D's was more consistent.
Jack and Yusei are goated deuteragonists.
@@Arko777777 I mean the numeron code was already established as a powerful tool that can change the universe so if you had that type of power wouldn’t you bring your friends back ?
While 5Ds is my favourite Yugioh series, I hated how Carly was reset to becoming a Jack Atlas fangirl after the Dark Signer arc. And Akiza getting shafted as well. I didn’t mind the 4Kids dub. While I also watched the original subbed, saw how dark the original could get, and the lengths the original went to censor or change stuff, it will always hold a place in my heart.
Can relate to it i really have resentment on writers decision they didnt make pontetial of CarlyxJack ship as even after it was kinda canon just Carly didnt remember the part about dark signers but remembering helping jack before and jack hiding his feelings for her as well that happens to be fitting for him plus he was friend to her after the dark signer arc so yeah they just ignored that part. Akiza definitely should been part of the trio after dark signers arc and then already learn turbo dueling to have it interesting. Luna abd her link to spirit world should been utilize if that was also made a thing.
Nah but the way jack is effectively like “you helped me rediscover who I am and what’s important to me, now it’s my turn to do the same for you” for the epilogue is really special to me
One thing that bothered me about 5D's, is that after becoming a Signer, Yusei seems to have completely abandoned his friends from Satellite that helped him build the D-Wheel in the beginning of the show.
Same with crow why would he just leave his kids that he watched for so long
Yeah i hate how they just disappear halfway through the show
Like I think after the dark signer arc yusei would still be in chilling in the satélite
I think they're dead.
@@slynthehedgehog8061 oh well that’s un fourtunate
*About your criticisms about time travel in the series:* 1. "Why can't you just warn the people of the past of the dangers of the future?" - My rebuttal is: who would believe them? People would think that the time traveller claiming to be from the future is crazy and would just ignore them and no _significant_ change would have occurred. To be able to change the past in a meaningful way, Z-ONE and Yliaster would have to be in positions of power and gain influence on what can and cannot happen whether it is politically, financially, or other. That is the reason why Yliaster as a secret organization exists in the first place. They have political and financial influence, and they can leverage that to make changes that matter. 2. "Z-ONE and Yliaster inserted themselves into the story at the cost of ret-conning the story that was told before" - Not exactly. Remember, in Z-ONE's timeline, Yusei was a legendary hero who fought against the Earthbound Gods and developed Accel Synchro. Rudger Godwin (Rex's brother) caused Zero Reverse because someone from Yliaster told him to do it. Likely what happened is that Yusei fought against the Dark Signers in the original timeline, but Z-ONE's interference caused Yusei and the other Signers to have their fight with their Dark counterparts much sooner in the main timeline than in the original one. The same thing occurred with Accel Synchro where Z-ONE sent Antinomy to teach Yusei how to Accel Synchro much sooner than when he was originally supposed to in the original timeline. 3. "Why is Smashing Arc Cradle into Neo Domino City the best they could come up with to save the future?" Remember how the apocalypse was triggered? Synchro Summoning + the Momentum reactor. Even in the first few episodes of the first season, they mentioned that Synchro Summoning causes the Momentum reactor to spin faster, thus generating more energy than normal. In Z-ONE's future, humanity organized an event where each person Synchro summons at the same time as each other in order to generate so much energy that it would at minimum meet the energy demands needed to advance their society at the rate that they wanted. This of course lead to the Zero Reverse incident on a global scale that lead to the apocalypse. Z-ONE, Yliaster, and Paradox tried _multiple_ approaches to save the future. When one failed, they took on a different approach each time: Plan A of saving the future was halting the development of the Momentum reactor by causing Zero Reverse, making it so that the Momentum reactors in the future never existed in the first place. This didn't succeed as it only _delayed_ the Reactor's development and a successful one was created in Neo Domino City in present day. Plan B of saving the future was getting rid of Synchro Summoning since it was the catalyst for the Momentum reactors of the future to spin out of control in the first place. This is why Team New World has such a deep hatred for Synchro Summoning. Since the Duel Monsters Card game was the basis for Synchro Summoning, Paradox was sent back in time to kill Pegasus so that the Duel Monsters Card game doesn't advance enough to the point where Synchros were introduced. The 3 protagonists of the Bonds Beyond Time movie foiled Paradox's mission however. Plan C was Z-ONE sending Antinomy to Yusei so that Yusei would learn Accel Synchro at a much earlier point in time than when he was originally supposed to in Z-ONE's timeline. Z-ONE did this because he had faith that Yusei would be able to find the answer to save the future if Yusei learned about Accel Synchro at an earlier point in time. Plan D - At some point, Z-ONE realized that he didn't have much time left to live. He knew that he wouldn't be able to live long enough to see if Plan C succeeded or to keep trying. Once he dies, humanity is doomed if Plan C fails because humanity is unaware of their ultimate fate in Z-ONE's future and wouldn't take the necessary precautions to prevent it from happening. Z-ONE couldn't risk humanity's survival by rolling the dice on Yusei or to keep trying any longer, which is why he took drastic measures with the plan to crash Arc Cradle into Neo Domino City as a last ditch effort to save humanity from extinction. Neo Domino City at that point in time has the only completed and working Momentum Reactor in the world. By ensuring its destruction as well as all traces on how to build it (research on its development likely being kept in the city itself since it isn't widespread throughout the world yet), Z-ONE hopes to wipe out the existence of the Momentum Reactor from the future so that the global scale Zero Reverse incident that caused humanity's extinction never happened in the first place. To me, the writing is actually solid. The pieces are all there. It's just a matter of putting it together like with Yusei's Junk deck.
Well said mate :') ... Wish your comment is pinned
Summed it up possibly the best way Yeah you kinda have to suspended your disbelief some stuff weren't simply retconned/production issues, but at the end of the day it's still a great if not one of the greatest Yu-Gi-Oh stories that holds up even now.
Bravo, really nice arguments
You dropped this 👑 king!
To add to your first point. Z-One's group seemed to be of the opinion that humanity is incalapable of correcting their course by themselves, since it was their arrogance that led to the disaster in the first place.
I don’t know if y’all have seen that new card in the Jack Atlas Structure deck: “Everyone’s King”, but the flavor text was really profound (for a YGO card) and made me really nostalgic for this anime
I adore that new card. I want to grab the structure deck just to get it (and maybe to start building a Jack Atlas deck for funsies)
Right? Somethin bout that gloss just hits the spot
Crow being a final boss was actually hinted at by the director on twitter near the end when he agreed to take questions about 5ds in 2011. He didn't outright say "final boss of the dark signers" or that they changed him BECAUSE of his popularity outright, but said he was planned to originally be a bad guy when someone asked why his general character changed from being rough and kinda hostile to basically comic relief. This tweet got screenshot and then posted on livejournal (because the ygo fandom used livejournal well into 2011 before abandoning it around 2012-13) and it was later lost when photobucket did they big "pay to use" thing where basically every link using old non-paid accounts died. Ono's tweets were also largely deleted but you could find evidence his Q&A happened in japanese twitter users still replying to tweets he made in that time answering questions where the tweets they were replying to were largely deleted. The one tweet that survived deletion for a while was oddly the one explaining Crow's name being from an old general. Whether or not he was being entirely truthful and got it all right can be debated given he was a series director and not a writer who made these choices but I don't think it's fair to say they were 4chan rumors. Most of the other speculation of "leader of the dark signers" and "because his deck was popular" was speculation on the part of the fandom around that time that got wildly out of control in the english fandom in the good of days of having to rely on like 4 translators on livejournal and another 10 people who would write lengthy essays explaining their thought processes for why their interpretations on anything were the ultimately correct one and everyone else should change their minds to follow them or put on a dunce cap to parade around like the moron they were. Aki's role being diminished because the voice actress was pregnant WAS a 4chan rumor if I'm not mistaken though. On twitter she said she just had a lot less time to work on 5ds because she was trying to do, working on other projects, and just didn't see 5ds as a priority which happens. I have no idea why people said she got pregnant or who on reddit found that old rumor because people shut that down very quickly back in the day because it was so ridiculous and to this day we still don't know if Carly's original voice was actually involved in that weird spanking cult or just accused of it because she was Chinese. Also while I hate the time travel plotline and feel it has way too many contrivances I will give Z-one this: This isn't the first time he's gone back in time. This isn't their first timeline they've messed with. This is only the most recent one which we can glean from short mentions in conversations, vague throwaway lines, and even on screen in his records of all the weird timelines he's been in or observed. I wouldn't be surprised if the first time they decided to go back they tried to stop Momentum/Ener-d's development (or however you spell it) by warning of the dangers and it failed. Because even after zero reverse no one really cared about the dangers posed by momentum's development and continued to use it and parrot that it was totally safe, covering up the accident as a natural disaster. But I think ultimately it fails because it is sort of too hopeless and also they kept hinting that Z-one WAS Yusei before just being like "ha ha sike it's some other guy. Yusei is still right and will save the day" which he does making a new energy source. Ultimately the antagonists are never punished for messing with time and we don't even know if the timeline is truly saved or if Z-one has gone on with his defeated robot companions to fuck up a new timeline in their fool's errand to change the past. It's not satisfying it just starts to feel kind of pointless when you think too much about it when like you said they could have done way more with it.
I believe there is a Japan only art book that shows original concepts and ideas and one of them is indeed crow being a bad guy, the reason why they change it is unknown I think.
@@fernandocruz8369 Not accurate, I've bought a bunch of them (including Japanese only) to look through and didn't see anything referencing it. Including the one people named a lot, unless there is a book that just is never mentioned anywhere. One of the artbooks does include Crow's early beta design though that I'm really fond of, but most people don't know it's him since they're so starkly different.
Damn, talk about doing research.
@@demonninetaledfox Yusei's gloves in Duel Art were so much better. They would've been harder to animate, but damn they looked better.
@@demonninetaledfox Crow's early design is better than the one he ended up with, in my opinion anyway
I know its gonna sound ridiculous but i relate to Yusei and love Yugioh 5Ds so much because of just how real and relatable it is, yes at the end of the day everything is solved by a card game, but the story offers so much more than just that. A tale of systematic issues, discrimination, segregation, class struggle, bullying, depression, neglect, cult mentality, and trying to do better than the place you come from and live in. I watched yugioh 5ds when i was in my early teens and i loved it because i saw myself and my world in that show, i know people laugh at how some characters struggle just to get cards to play and take it seriously, but when i was a kid that struggle was all too real, i was so poor growing up i (my parents) could only really afford stuff like that for me once in a rare blue moon, barely making enough to get by was what (understandably) mattered. Not only that but its also about what that struggle in the show represents and how its characters handle it. I (a poc) was at a time when i was starting to see the world and how it worked for and against some people and others, yes being poor is hard for everyone, but some people stand out more than others. The satellite from my eyes was a struggling inner city environment (A.K.A "the hood") and the show at that young age gave me a small bit of catharsis, courage, hope, and understanding to face that world with my head held high. And the more older i got, and the more i experienced life and stayed with yugioh, i truly look back at what 5DS was showing in its own way. The over policing with sector security and how they keep people in their place, the sad tragic outcome of it with the character Kalin, the look at this "better" other side and its own problems to the people that belong to it with characters like leo, luna, and Akiza, A cop who actually learned from the problems he himself added to, someone who sought to escape that life with any means he could use with jack, someone who thought if he cant make it out then the least he could do is try help the kids around him and give them a better life with crow, someone who taught (with his knowledge and wits) that this wasnt the only life to live and that mass change for the better can happen, and so much more through other characters. Yes in essence it is a commercial for a card game, but that's what makes 5DS so good, that in this commercial something so true and real can be expressed to children. All of the Yugiohs have something to love and lookback on when you are older, like growing into an adult and expectations with GX, Internet culture with Vrains, Compassion with ZEXAL. But these reasons are why i truly love 5Ds the most. I might be looking into it too much, but this is why every time i look back on 5Ds im just left in awe.
as someone who live in a thirld world country and parents that are not well off, readoing about how you relate to the story is not ridiculous. Even I do feel that yusei, jack, and crow is very relatable even their farewell in the ending. the first time i got my yugioh deck was from cards that my best friend dont want to use just like yusei and jack got their cards from scraps. i had to be dilligent to win a scholarship so i could continue my study and even that at the cost of leaving my family and live alone, it does feel like how jack and yusei had to left satellite after working had and had their bond with the people there. i often got emotional when i reminiscence about this anime.
@@nangirb1 Wow that's amazing, thank you for understanding, I hope you go far in life with your ambitions. I'm glad a show like Yugioh can really teach people that even if you might have to leave someone one day, what mattered is that you made an honest connection with them first.
@Darryl Jack THAT, that right there is what 5D's nailed on the most. Doing Kizuna (aka bonds) RIGHT. Something the other shows failed. 5D's was a perfect balance of bonds and friendship that felt natural and wasn't overly forced down everybody's throats like arc v and dm did, excluding gx because the entire show was literally about Judai.
Get
I’ll let him know that he will send me your resume if I hear 👂🏾 and I hear 👂🏾
Late Synchro and early Xyz was THE SHIT fam, soooo many possibilities and deck combination my head exploded with so many ideas
2011-2013 was peak YGO IMO
@@KipomoVideos ya bet Played the shit out of Dueling Network after school everyday
@@KipomoVideos true
What happened between Rua and Ruka (Lua and Leo, I watched the Japanese dub three times...) in the Aporia duel is something mostly twins can understand. When Rua got put down to his last breath and Ruka fell to the ground, life points steadily dropping even though she was taking no damage, hit me in the soul as a twin. She genuinely believed she was going to lose her twin brother and I felt every moment of that. That duel I think hits twins the hardest because we all know that if we were to lose our twin, we'd die inside and before too long, expire ourselves. It's very dark, but also shows just how important that connection is.
*Luna
I didn't even realize that this show was so heavily inspired by akira! Even down to the psychic powers🤯🤯🤯
I love the character development of Jack in the Dark Signers arc. The relationship with best girl Carly is what changed Jack from a false king to the real King, and their duel was simply legendary from start to finish. I hate what they did with her from the epilogue of the Dark Signers arc forward and how she and Jack were never the same again, individually or together.
Blame Shin Yoshida for that. This is what happens when you give the reigns of your show to an incel
Weird to meet you here again captain, then again somewhat expected.
Jack is way nicer to me than the rest... because he likes me I think 😳
@@carlycarmine3858 As expected, best girl knows the truth better than anyone
@@esdeathsenpai5128 I know Jack better than the rest because I'm basically his girlfriend
Dude, I love the 5ds anime. The opening is so dope every time I hear it I start singing it.
5Ds felt like Yugioh had grown up with its audience. It was in that early, almost cringey phase of young adulthood where it tries to be fun with its children's card games, but using it as an opportunity to tell a story about class warfare and police brutality.
I think that honestly depends if you watched the sub/or read the manga. Because the original manga wasn't kid friendly with horror themes and disturbing imagery. While Yami Marik's insanity stood out in DM, you saw several people who were just as bad as him early on. Best example, Death-T Kaiba. You also had more people who died and never came back, at least in the manga. That said, 5D's storyline is more 'down to earth' kind of maturity as this video talks about, while Yugioh manga and by extension DM was more horror theme. So it isn't as relatable.
@@Ramona122003 Oh no doubt. I remember being damn-near traumatized as a kid by the scene where Pegasus turned Bandit Keith's hand into a gun and made him shoot himself.
What I loved about 5D (and Yu-Gi-Oh) in general is that it stays true to its main theme even when the story might not be at its best
>talks about the Arc Cradle arc >doesn't mention Aporia vs Zone Big oof, that was one of the best duels of 5ds
5D's really is underrated. Even my girlfriend, who hasn't even seen much of Duel Monsters, actually LOVES this series. We watched it together Subbed in Japanese years after it ended. And she was HOOKED. We legit finished the Dark Signers Arc in one day.
OMG THIS give me an idea to start rewatching it with my gf. With Master Duel already released, I guess I might as well teach her how to play the game without the need of buying the actual cards if she gets hooked to 5D's like yours lol
That’s awesome!
"Imagine you're Kazuki Takehashi", man, that intro aged like milk. Nevertheless, rest in peace, creator of my favorite card game. Great vid, happy it happened upon my recommended
I cried throughout this whole video thank u for making this, it really sums up my own critiques on the show along with everything I love about it.
Why don't u come over and cry some more 😏
That is a STRONG reaction to a children’s show man!
@@klassicjammer7322 man, who tf cares. Let them have their fun. I wish I could get as emotionally attached to… ANYTHING, like they are to this show
Anybody else get introduced to Yu-Gi-Oh 5D through the CW channel on Saturday mornings? A moment of appreciation for the 5D opening; an absolute banger. W for the 4kids dub
Yep. I was hyped for the Saturday mornings when a new episode would come out.
Wtf, i was watching zexal on there 😂
I remember those days as a young lad
Let’s rev it up!!!!
That takes me back lol
Seeing 5Ds get some much needed love is cathartic.
16:47 In Brazil, Yugioh DM ends with Yami Yugi VS Yami Malik, so we didn't get the last duel.
5Ds will always be the best Yu-Gi-Oh! series out there!
The 5Ds ending is how i wish alot of long running series could end, anime or manga, regardless of genre as well. It made me realize that a good epilogue arc can nicely tie up a series’ conclusion and leave a lasting impression on me. Very often do series often jump to the future after a climactic finale, with usually a half episode/final chapter dedicated to this happily ever after in the future(heck 5Ds even does this sort of I think? Its been a while). But I always have this aching desire to know about the aftermath of said climactic finale and the events that put each character towards that happily ever after. 5ds was able to deliver that amazingly. The team finding similar resolve to move forward despite being apart moved me alot. DM did it like kinda ok, but it mostly focused on yugi’s future. GX was pretty good since it dedicated alot of season 4 to the side character’s futures, but I still liked 5Ds more mainly because of the group dynamic it had. Zexal, ArcV, and Vrains(to an extent) didnt really deliver on their endings... Zexal i can say barely had an epilogue and ended on some cliffhanger that will never be addressed...(Barian arc was still really good though once the gears started turning for the story, i love RUM as a mechanic to this day) ArcV had the opportunity with there being a decent chunk of episodes to form an epilogue, but screwed it up hard imo. And with Vrains it was like with DM, where it felt like only a few characters got a decent resolution Also the last set of OP/EDs were an absolute beast. I loved the alternative versions each had, they caught me off guard, especially the ED one. Didnt know I wanted a eulogy for the villains until I saw it.
fr I do hear some people that are sad that everyone moved on, but for me the 5ds finale is just perfect. Pretty much every form of media I wish had a solid resolution to everyone as good as 5ds
I especially felt it with Vrains since the final arc was heavily forced and poorly paced; yet had some profound plot points and amazing moments. Especially how Vrains had a similar concept about the advent of technological singularity and the kind of social economical impact it had on a still socially immature society. Vrains could’ve potentially step up 5D’s if dueling outside of Vrains were just as pivotal as the Speed Duels. But I digress 5D’s handled it’s ending with a surprising amount of maturity and bitter sweet finality. But that YuseixAkiza ship tho…
When you say alternative versions of the OP and EDs, what do you mean?
@@geofry145 Search on youtube "5DS OP/ED Version 2" and you'll find visually different versions of the OP and ED based on the context of the episode. They all happen at the 2nd to last duel of the series so there are some spoilers
Wanna know why “card games on motorcycles” was a thing? It was done as a big middle finger to the executives that made 4Kids censor Yugioh by including a dangerous activity. Also, every violent scene is important for the plot, the Dark Signers had to die in order to get their powers, and a severed arm is a major plot coupon.
It's sounds cool to say, but that wasn't really it. I doubt the original creators in Japan care what the West does to edit their work. DM, and GX had as much death as 5Ds, and Zexal had more and 4kids still found a way
@@jocoolshow that’s not necessarily true. Metal Gear only exists as a series because of western content.
@@thomasffrench3639 I meant specifically for YGO in this scenario
The studio didn't theme the show around motorcycles as a "take that" to 4Kids, and they didn't have important occurrences revolve around traumatic events because of them either, that's just a consequence of darker storytelling. If they were that concerned about the how the western market received the show, they would've just pulled the license from 4Kids and had someone else dub it how they wanted. The company had to approve all the changes 4Kids made, y'know.
Citation needed for this one.
Incredibly done video. Jack Atlas has forever solidified himself as my favorite anime character ever. His redemption arc was incredible. His JP VA, Takanori Hoshino, just gives that character so much life. Icing on the cake is he voices my favorite fighting game character as well, Iori Yagami. The best line in the show that resonates with me to this day is when he just straight up yells "WAGA TAMASHII" which loosely translates to "MY VERY SOUL" as he slams down his Red Dragon Archfiend showing that his ace monster is just an extension of himself.
Ted Lewis's version of Jack wasn't that bad honestly.
Nobody likes the original version of any anime, so how about you talk about the English version instead
@@jovandjukic7940 yes, that Aussie accent is super cute for Jack
Leo was my favorite character he didn't do much but he was there. He's the type of guy that if you're shooting in the gym he'll grab your rebounds 👌
Bro Leo’s the guy that would waste his entire weekend to clean the entire gym without anyone asking then cry afterward cuz he realized he missed a spot
Even while ultimately ending out strong, you can kind of make the argument that 5D's issues in its second half kind of became a continuing trend with YGO series going forward, where it's often talked about how things seem to peter out once the final season hits. Likely due to the fact that they need to keep either escalating things or coming up with new threats, it's an issue you can see in Shonen series where they often times go on a bit too long.
to be fair, the stronger and more mature series both got screwed by anniversary movies; the WRGP in 5D's got screwed by Bonds Beyond Time, and Arc-V got screwed by Dark Side of Dimensions. This led to extended arcs and filler that fans got frustrated with (probably one reason the Synchro arc lasted 50 episodes).
I am so fucking dissapointed in myself for falling on the Card Games on Motorcycles meme and waiting so long to experience the best god damn series in Yugioh
I had the same thing with Zexal just ignoring it because of the memes but then ended up loving it
@@dolphinpower1107 To be fair, Zexal is agressively mediocre for a really, really long time. It's an issue GX also had to some extent, but GX had its charm regardless. Zexal just doesn't have anything good going on for so long it's hard to push through and see it get good. With that being said, I think every yugioh series get some really good moments, eventually. Arc-V is probably the weakest, because its peak isn't that long and it drops the ball really hard, but it's still a good time. Zexal and GX are really slow to start which will 100% drive people away. 5D starts strong and fall off. Vrains is good from start to end but ... ends way too early and it feels like it had so much more to give. Seven exists. Unfortunately.
@@claire6452 Arc-V started so strong and ended at it's weakest, even though 2 of the best duels of Arc-V were at the end.
Disagree, Leo was the mvp of that devack duel, all Luna did was just finish what he set up because he was too beat up. He could’ve won that easily. His deck was way better than Luna’s, although that’s more to do with it being an archtype, instead of just random fairies; plants and beast monsters.
While GX will remain my favorite Yugioh series (and I will remain forever salty we never got an English dub for Season 4), 5D's just... hits different
Agreed 👍😄
I agree: each one of the first three shows forming the "Yugi multiverse" was good in its own way, but 5ds was by far the mature work. I don't mind that they set aside the cult trope; really, the only thing I regret is that they substituted Akiza for Crow. Looking forward to the GX video.
One thing not covered in the video is part of the reason Aki(za) got substituted; her actress got pregnant and wanted to focus on that and her family, thus a reduced workload, thus the sidelining.
@@jaymiechan this is most likely true but it has never been confirmed. There's so much mistery around that late 2009-early 2010 time between the 2nd and the 3rd season
I really thought that the cult aspect was going to be about how one of the voice actors joined a cult
@@Arisconleche While the original VA for Carly, Li-mei Chiang, was a member of the Roma Sophie cult, that's not confirmed to be the reason that post-Dark Signers they went more sci-fi. The Arcadia movment was very much a cult in every sense of the word.
@@jaymiechan plus not to mention that after it was revealed that Chiang was a part of the organization, albeit as a victim, this incident is one of the reasons why we never got a Aki Izayoi (Akiza Izinski) vs Arcadia Movement arc in the anime until 2015 or 2017 when Konami released Yu-Gi-Oh: Arc V Tag Force Special, as that game's story mode actually has the Akiza vs Arcadia Movement storyline that was kinda tease before it was kibosh completely.
When they anounced 5D I was laughing my ass off at the idea of duels on motorcycles. Then I watched it, and ate my own words every chapter with a grin from ear to ear
Can't really say anything about the show itself since I stopped watching mid-way through GX, but 5D / Synchro era was the golden age of the TCG and no one can change my mind on that.
4:45 really put a smile on my face. The nostalgia is killing me 😂 5D’s definitely the best yugioh ( nostalgia from the original aside)
I just want to say thank you. You have put out all the feelings I have for 5Ds in a way that I could never articulate. This series alone is my favorite amongst even regular anime (alongside fairy tail) and stands for everything I believe in as an adult today. Thank you, fellow King. Please have a safe and wonderful day. You have a future that's worth fighting for. 💪
I always tell people "yeah yeah i know Card Games on Motorcycles is silly, I also used to believe that. Even though GX is my fave, 5ds really is objectivly the best of the original 3 Yugiohs. The story is much deeper and Yusei is badass af"
Remember when Dartz said to his minions to do the protagonists on motorcycles, well, he meant this. A missunderstood genious. He totally knew that other summoning methods will appear during the next series
Season 3 was supposed to be about the psychic duelist and slayer as the main antagonist. However, there was big cult scandal during that time and the writers didn’t want to do a story essentially about a cult, so it was scrapped. Instead we got a season 3 full of different side stories rather a focused main story. Really wish we gotten a psychic arc, cause that would of been intesting
The scandal had no bearing on the production whatsoever, it's just some r*ddit rumor. Season 3 was already a thing by the time Carly's VA resigned.
A well known fan theory that was proven false a long long time ago. You can even see it referenced in the video when he talks about the fake rumours.
5ds was a gem and have a special place in my heart. This show came out while in high school and lead me to my lifelong friends. The story was pretty cool and It got close to home because in high school I was poor.
I've described 5D's as the G Gundam of Yu-Gi-Oh, in that it took this bizarre fusion of genres that shouldn't work (mecha-martial arts, card battle-motorsports) and approached it with the same sincere conviction that made it beloved among fans.
They borrowed a lot from G Gundam.Hyper mode,Clear Mind,the marks of power,battle themes.The one thing they didn’t have was a Master Asia .
Actually that's a very good point. It doesn't matter how ridiculous the premise, if the writers take it seriously and treat it seriously then it can be a convincing and moving story. On the other hand if the writers don't take the subject seriously then it will look ridiculous to their audience.
@@Zetaforce-uv8el Huh. I feel like Rex Goodwin could have been loosely based on Asia.
@@ryansnowberger3177 he’s more of a Marcelot from Neo Greece although the manga version seems more Master Asia based
@@Zetaforce-uv8el I haven't actually seen the anime version yet, I mostly focus on manga.
5DS also had the best handheld Yugioh Games 5D's World Championship 2009: Stardust Accelerator. 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia. 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus. Such a massive blow Konami did not make any true successor on the 3DS
RIP Kazuki Takahashi
5Ds is the bridge between old Yugioh and new Yugioh. It kept to its roots with DM continuity and references (along with it being canon overall to the Yugioh timeline that INCLUDES ZEXAL), it also has some of the best moments EVER in Yugioh History. Furthermore, 5Ds was a show where it was not only VERY serious and epic to watch, but also very mature for a Yugioh show as shown with its protagonist Yusei being the most mature protagonist with the most character depth along with moments between Yusei and Akiza during the last episode of 5Ds. This show was truly ahead of its time and really showed that Yugioh wasn't just for kids. P.S. Synchro Summoning is OBJECTIVELY the best Extra Deck summoning mechanic in the entire game. Furthermore, Yusei can and will ALWAYS beat Jaden Yuki, any other protagonist in a duel (with the exception of Yugi), and every single other side character within the ENTIRETY of the Yugioh Franchise hands down. He is just that good.
Agreed. Synchro Summoning was the best balance between summoning your boss monsters, while not blindly using all the high ATK Lv4 monsters in your deck. You had to balance the levels of your monsters in order to summon the big guy. The other mechanics afterwards never really have that balance. But then again, from XYZ's onwards, deckbuilding has devolved into "Archetypes or Bust." Even rouge decks have to obey that philosophy to some degree now.
I disagree, zexal isn't part of the same timeline as 5D's. There's just no way people would give up Synchro summoning after all the efforts they went through in 5D's
@@bigfish5544 Yeah 5Ds is apart of the Zexal timeline
Synchro is my favorite ED mechanic, but there is a solid debate to be made for Fusion
@@eugenideddis Fusion is garbage
fun fact: when Junk Warrior defeats Red Demon Dragon in the last episode, it's the same as shown during OP1 when Red Demon Dragon faces off against Junk Warrior. That was when i feel the story really came full circle and ended perfectly
Also scarlight red dragon archfiend in arc v has scars from his battle with junk warrior
One thing I think was handled a bit poorly was the reveal of red nova dragon. They had this thing going to whole time about Jack learning a new style that didn't rely on brute force and then the end is still just brute force. I would have liked it more if that final 3800 atk monster hadn't shown up. In DM I always liked Bakura because he didn't rely on big monsters.
YO I'm so happy you included the legendary scene of Yusei bearing his soul at 3:48, how he feels responsible for his best friends being orphans cuz of his family setting off the accident that lead to there untimely demise. It's gut wrenching and to this day that scene has always stuck with me.
The fact that you didn't bring up Aporia vs. Z-ONE is just criminal to me. Overall great vid.
I want this kind of video for every Yu-Gi-Oh Series because it’d be perfect
It'd be great since every series has such a unique cast of characters, world and duels that all deserve love for what they did.
@@dolphinpower1107 yes, but I’ll admit this is probably always gonna be the best
@@gabrieldevoogel6225 true
@@dolphinpower1107 GX would slap tho
@@gabrieldevoogel6225 that and Zexal would be real nice
While GX is my personal favorite, it's indisputable that 5Ds is the best Yugioh show
*"Don’t worry, the child is not in pain, he is actually creating the static through telekinetic"* lmao Maybe the real treasure card was Yugioh 5D that everyone criticized so much Never watched any Yugioh after the original, but this convinced me to watch 154 episodes. I mean I watched One Piece from start to recent episodes, what could go wrong?
The series still holds a special place in my heart, despite and even because of the flaws of the WRGP arc (the reminder of Sly's missing story hurt my heart thank you so much 😂). I love the twins and how they foil each other, where Rua loses constantly but never stops trying, and Ruka wins a lot but struggles to stay motivated to keep fighting, and I wish they hadn't been sidelined so hard for the WRGP arc. I still love this show so much and it's really the last time I was invested in a Yu-Gi-Oh series, as good as the others may have been.
Leo's my favorite character actually. He's really well written for a child character not only for Yugioh, but for fiction in general. His growth is really satisfying and awesome to see. All he ever wants to do is protect his sister but lacks the strength to do so, making him hate himself. Its a really subtle growth, and I really enjoyed seeing it. He's literally the underdog of 5D's. Despite his self hatred he's still willing to do anything for her. I knew he was my favorite in the scene when he literally begged God in prayer to take his own life and give it to her instead because he couldn't bare to see her in pain anymore and live with the guilt of being fine when she's weak. He's very similar to Yusei in that sense, which is why he looks up to him so much I suppose. Man's can't do anything right and his still willing to literally die to save her despite being a normal useless kid that hates himself and is surrounded by people guided by destiny to do great things while he can't even win a duel and lacks the power to save the person he loves the most. Keep in mind how much he loved Jack Atlas at the beginning of the series and how much he wanted to be a top duelist. Despite being a rich "privileged" kid he's essentially beat into the ground at every moment. His beloved sister is chronically sick, his parents are never home, he spends most of his time alone inside due to his sick sister and his aloof parents so he doesn't even have many friends. Most people under these conditions would become bitter about their circumstances and hate their sibling (which he basically admits is what happened initially), but yet cast aside those feelings and just hated himself instead because of how much he loved her. He tries his hardest despite viewing himself as worthless and never complains about it, never growing angry or resentful and trying to be nice to everyone, even Satellite citizens. Everything about him is likable in that sense imo. His entire character arc and Life Stream Dragon is built off of sacrificing everything to save one person and learning to have hope that you can make a positive impact despite your anxiety and self-defeating thoughts, themes that are not only reflected by his character arc, but by the show's last arc itself. His entire character arc is a reflection of those final themes in Ark Cradle. There's a reason why Life Stream Dragon is a tuner and why Leo gets so much attention those last couple of episodes. You could argue that him becoming a signer is contrived, which I can see why you'd say that, but not only is it foreshadowed for the entire show (ep 36 was the first obvious example), him literally giving his life is a part of his character. It hurts to see people call him Mokuba when he clearly has so much more depth and does far more than him. They would all be dead if Leo didn't die for Luna. I guess when all you watch is the dub that's the impression you get.
Very much yes. Also, Rua was supposed to get Life Stream way earlier (during the Dark Signer arc I believe) but was delayed because people liked Crow way too much, giving whatever spotlight he would've gotten in that arc to Crow. Such a shame really, if Life Stream was revealed earlier we might have been able to see more of it but I guess Blackwings are cool.
@@HazeEmry I'm not so sure that's true though, the evidence for it seems inconclusive at best. Regardless, I actually prefer for Lua to get Life Stream towards the end of the show, as like I said his character arc and Ark Cradle's themes reflect each other. Not to mention it makes his win all the more satisfying, as he did it all on his own. While I guess it would be nice to get more scenes with him, I'm actually very happy with how he turned out considering he's the only main character aside from Luca who didn't get flanderized in season 2.
Due to his development,should we get a reunion movie, I’d like to see Rua defeat Yusei in a riding duel.The time skip built him up as a beast and it would be fitting that the title of king gets passed down the next generation.
@@Zetaforce-uv8el I'd be down tbh. I'd want a redub before that though.
He was my favorite but sadly I felt his story was lacking. He had the potential of becoming the Gohan for Yugioh and yet they ruined it.
Man I feel nostalgic I was just old enough to remember watching this show when it was on its last reruns and it definitely affected my taste in media. I actually went to rewatch it recently and it gave me an appreciation for the show with my own grains of criticisms as well. The one thing I’m always sad about is that we never got to see much of Yusei’s old gang and how such a life affects people who grew up like that, who aren’t as lucky with protag luck. As a kid I always wanted Rally to hang out with Luna and Leo as he was probably only a year or two older and the contrast of having him around even for a hangout episode would’ve been nice to show how systematic oppression isn’t just healed over night it scars people mentally and physically in his case as well as affects how others interact with you. Something that irked me was how Yusei Crow Jack and Akiza were around my age during the series and it made me realise they’re so young as a kid they seemed so much older but looking at it now I couldn’t do half the stuff which made me appreciate their characters. Something I’m glad about is they seemed like their age even in small ways which was nice and honestly needed. But before I continue rambling good video!
This review was made with a lot of love, and I can assure this brings me to tears, this is my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! series ever, I love Jack Atlas because he has an amazing character arc and... I just want to thank you for this video, it revived a LOT of memories.
Very well put together! I love this series and, as I watch the follow-ups and even the predecessors, I can't help but think there was something better about 5D's that I couldn't name. Well... you named it all! So thanks. Good job
Clear Mind was the BEST thing to come out of the show! The song absolutely slaps
5Ds is my favourite for a reason. I've always loved the aged up Characters, darker tone and social commentary. I was 13 at the time.
Wonderful video, man. Thank you, for all the time and work you spent to make it.
Im very grateful for this video. This series holds such a special place on my heart. Z-ONE and Aporia and two of my favorite characters. I wish the video could have gone into their relationship as well. How them, along with Paradox and Antinomy shared the same strong bond of friendship as the protagonists. How when Z-ONE sacrifices himself he thinks about his three friends and hopes he can see them again
Yugioh 5ds is by far the best series. God I loved that era and the fun everyone had.
Akiza should have had her own black rose evolution in the Grand Prix arc. We only got one around 10 years later and she was so desperate for another synchro she used stardust dragon. Like, what? Give majestic black rose or assault black rose or SOMETHING.
Real card called "Ruddy Rose Dragon." It wipes the board, banishes the grave, and can sacrifice itself to negate destruction, but revive Black Rose Dragon in the process. Would've been a great addition.
Yeah, it really sucks that Aki got no evolution for her ace, especialy since Black Rose Dragon is such an iconic card for both the anime and tcg/ocg.
@@lyncario5515 It was even better than any other signer dragon considering, unlike them, it was good enough too be banned at one point. But that’s irrelevant cuz rose dragon is objectively the most beautiful card to exist.
@@commonviewer2488blood rose dragon.
@@commonviewer2488 too bad it came out a decade after the show
this was my technical first "anime" i watched and to see u beautifully describe it brings a tear to my eye, i finished this series then started the original and gx, then branched off into other animes, all of these stories have inspired and helped me become a better me after having a bad life, thank u for helping me relive a childhood memory
This is one of the best retrospectives I've viewed. Thanks.
I feel like thing thing that really made the series so great is that it actually took its time and learned from the mistakes of DM and GX (for the most part) 1.The characters are overall more solid and developed then in the previous 2 series where there was A BLOAT of characters who basically served no purpose 2. The worldbuilding actually makes sense in its own insane way and is actually pretty well thought out, a far cry from GX where it went completely off the rails 3. The eldritch and dark elements are front and center and tie into the world and villains more naturally like they did in DM with the Millenium Items ( although definetly explored more)
Those 3 points aren't really valid tho 5D's characters are mostly under utilized by the show, most of them just get sidelined by Gary Stu Yusei Fudo 5D's worldbuilding is wacky asf, you can definetely feels like Yliaster was a last minute idea, the show just goes from Dark Cultists to Future Motorcycle morphing Robots in no time
@@lisaruhm6681 Deff the second tournament arc. However, on some level the MC always has a bit of plot armor, so I dont think this is the hill to die on.
Especially love the 5D’s OST when Sound Duel 1and 2 focused on Synth and Nu Metal hits like Unleashed Force, while Sound Duel 3 and 4 leaned into more cinematic pieces. Their soundtrack overall had so much range especially my favorite YGO opening with Masaaki Endo’s *BELIEVE IN NEXUS*
Yeah! I just wish we can hear good quality rips of the unreleased soundtrack. Seriously, someone on KZhead uploaded the best rip of the first synchro summon theme (in the anime) for Junk Warrior as well as "Hopeless Battle" and got their channel taken down.
This essay is simply amazing! thank you for this high quality video
This was my favorite of the spin-offs growing up. This video was such a blast from the past. Thank you for covering this so extensively. I feel like it's mostly been forgotten beyond the "card games on motorcycles" meme.
I agree. This was the golden time. Yusei was my favorite protagonist for a long time. I related to him being a clever duelist using “weak” cards to make big plays before it was all the rage. Also Crow and Blackwings was my all time best win record in tournaments. This video was nostalgic.
I agree to agree !
Yeah for both the game and the show, synchro summoning was fun and simple to do but the older cards could still keep up and come out on top. And the anime of course was still putting so much effort into it's story and charachters. But after 5d's I pretty much fell off of Yu-gi-oh for both, the game's gotten convluted and way too damn fast while the anime's gotten more gimmicky and there's alot less effort being put into it.
Perfect video. I could never understand why 5D's was so close to my heart when it comes to anime, but you explained perfectly. The vídeo could only be more perfect of you let yusei end the video with his last "Riding Duel, Acceleration!"
Would love to see more retrospectives on the rest of the franchise! Great work.
It was a greta pleasure to listening you all along the video, what you said about 5d's is perfect and can helps to inprove how people see the series, thank you for that (from France)
"Why didn`t they go back and just told everyone about it?" They did, during the episodes they talk about how they tried multiple solutions and they all end up failling in one way or another. The one you talked about being the most obvious one: No one believe them or take their presence as proff they managed to conclude the project. "Old players that saw it as the breaking point of the game" Yes, synchro and extra deck summoning broke the game so much that the solution the player base reached to "fix" the game starts with banning every tuner from the game unironically.
The main reason why the most tuners are banned is Crystron Halqifibrax, god I hate this card without so many good tuners would be available
Halq is why a lot of tuners are banned. Ffs ban that card already, I just wanna play pure synchros
5Ds is to me the undisputed peak of the series: - Best overall writing and World Building - Most mature and darkest series - Super good pacing - Amazing Quality of Duels while also feeling Old School - Great Monster Designs - Some of the best and most memorable Characters in the entire series - An orgasmic and awesome Soundtrack - Synchro Summoning. One of the most fun and balanced summoning methods I have always been a bit sad that 5Ds wasted some of its potential and Season 2 was such a depart from much of the great story telling of Season 1 but as soon Yusei got to Clear Mind and Summoned Shooting Star with that kick-ass song, the show went back up-hill to once again deliver some of greatest quality of the franchise. The later Duels of WRPG against Taijo and Ragnarok and then the battles against Yiliaster and Arc Cradle were just sooo darn good and exciting! No other YGO show has ever been close to being as enjoyable or as motivating as 5Ds has been for me. It is also one of my favorite animes ever even if it is an unpopular opinion with amazing quality giants of the likes of Attack on Titan. Hunter x Hunter or One Piece (amongst many others) running around.
Synchro summoning broke the game and turned it into solitaire though. Your other points are correct.
I agree with you in the last part. It's so underrated.
i love this series soooo much, thank you so much for this
This is a really, really, good video about 5D's. You just missed one thing to make it epic: the fact that Yusei has a vocal song for one of his ace monsters, and that it's sung by Masaaki Endoh (the very awesome CLEAR MIND).