A Ryan's Review: Yugioh the Shadow Games

[Nayrman]

I'm back with another review to put up while I'm here. Just a bit of backround, this is the origional show, not the stupid stuff that was brought over and dubbed by a particular dubbing company. Basically this is known as season 0 of the series, since it was never brought over to the US. I had nothing else to do between not having the forum and waiting for classes to start (and lack of anything else, most manga had the week off) I decided to watch this show on youtube. This is going to be a quick one, since I don't have much to say. Please note, I know this is supposed to be a kids show, so I will not do the typical way of grading and instead just do my impressions of the show. I know I normally have my own rules for reviews but ya know what...
SCREW THE RULES I HAVE GREEN HAIR!



Basically the show as a whole doesn't stray too far from the "Duel Monsters" show Americans are accustomed too. Millenium Puzzle (Yami), Kaiba (with Green Hair and all), games, etc. are all there. The main difference is that this is more of a episode by episode show rather than long arcs about one certain game (that makes no sense). That's the biggest reason I like this show better than anything else this "series" has put out since it's inception. It's much more straitforward and just more enjoyable to watch. It's obvious this is a show from the 1990's, which is great in my opinion. It plays out much like other shows of the time in america (Think the old TMNT cartoon), which is a shame it wasn't brought over during that time. It's only 27 episodes long, and it actually ends thank goodness. Like I said it's meant for kids, so it's a bit corny but it's still kinda fun to watch at the same time. Also, nothing is more amuzing than Yami obliterating stupid people with his darkness games.


MIND CRUSH! (yes, he actually says it in the show when he finishes Kaiba...hilarious)

The other thing I'm going to note is the animation. I actually like this style of animation...mostly because it reminds of good times from the past, as it's done nicely without being cheap. It isn't the best quality of animation (DragonBall GT came out only a bit after with leagues ahead of YGO), but it's still a nice style, so I give it points for that. The sound/voice acting is merely decent. The only voice I like is Yami's, merely because it doesn't annoy me.


I don't care how many times I see it, the green hair still looks wierd...

I will give credit for keeping things simple as well, because with all the different kinds of "games" in the show (Duel Monsters is the only real reaccuring one), it would seems to get confusing; however, the show makes everything simple enough to where it is amusing as well. It does suffer from the standard "Wait...that makes no sense logistically" problems (Kaiba spending all that money on a card game, Bakura's transformation, etc.), but it is a kids show so I'm willing to let that go.


Kitty!

All in all I honestly wonder why this show was never really brought over to America. Besides one epsiode (involving a popularity contest with girls in swimsuits/Jounouchi *Joey...BROOKLYN RAGE!* cross-dressing) I really fail to see what is so bad about this show. A few simple edits would've been fine and made the show ready for american shores, sadly we got stuck with the other spinoff crud to fill out kids' minds with. Afer seeing this I fully support any bombing on 4kids' headquarters. It's not a great show, but it's far and away better than the stuff they brought over.

So, to send everyone off, a simple:
Mind Crush!, Screw the Rules!, Shut up Mokuba, DEESTROYEE DE WORLD!, and a happy children's card game to all.