Revisiting: Yu-Gi-Oh (season 0)

The first time I discovered that this rendition of Yu-Gi-Oh existed, it was 2016 and I had just learned that I could watch the subbed, original version of Duel Monsters online. A long time fan of Yu-Gi-Oh, i was absolutely taken aback at how little I seemed to know about this “anime”. Much like Pokemon and Bleach, the dumbed-down, English subs became widely popular, but at 8-to-10 years old (gosh, it seemed like everything happened to me at 8…) I didn’t really care, since I thought the Pharaoh, Yami in the English version (Atem in the Japanese version) was cute and I just kept looking at him.

It’s just all around better than the english version of every yu-gi-oh anything

Season 0, as it is informally dubbed, is actually am attempt by a older company (Toei) to animate the first few volumes of Yu-Gi-Oh, written by Kazuki Takahashi in between the years 1996 and 2004. It was the first animation and although it didn’t get a chance to flourish outside of Japan and get an English dub (thank God), I still view it as more interesting, exciting, and a lot more violent and realistic (true to the actual story line) than any of the English versions will ever be. The English versions, to me, seemed to cover too many things, which then hindered progress with understanding the storyline; they seemed ok with creating their own storyline. To me, someone who gets very attached to fictional characters and learning about them (yeah…this is just limited to fictional characters, huh…) discovering that Tea’s real name is Anzu, Joey’s real name is Jonounchi, Tristian’s real name is Honda, and there is no such thing as the “Shadow Realm”…it just created a sense of…distrust in me that made me want to keep checking out more of the original content on this legendary show.

i like to imagine this animation as younger versions of the duel monster animations

They’re shorter, their voices are a lot higher…don’t mind me swaying in Lalaland pretending that this Yami and the Duel Monsters Yami are the same person and just went through a slight growth spurt. I know I will regret this in the morning…but look, it’s how I process this show. I mean, I have to give myself an excuse as to why they just abruptly ended production of this show, UNNECESSARILY, anyway…

Poor Bakura can NEVER get a break…

I almost feel sorry for Bakura. This young man seems to have no representative personality besides getting possessed by that…millennium…whatever his dad bought him back from Egypt. This is how we’re introduced to him in season 0, and also how he is known most of Duel Monsters and in the most recent movie, Dark Side of the Dimensions. Although in season 0, he is introduced in the second to last episode and tries to beat Yami in some kind of weird board game.

miho…who?

I didn’t know who this young lady is, but it’s safe to say she never shows up past season 0. While the other side characters; like Mokuba and Bakura, Miho Nosaka doesn’t come back and to be honest…she wasn’t a very interesting character anyway. I would have kind of forgot she was there if it weren’t for her being totally obnoxious, borderline manipulative to Honda, and pretty much being a flat, one-sided character.

legendary…and dangerous!

This season of the Yu-Gi-Oh series may be forgotten to the English speaking world, but boy is it a gem. I like watching it, I like the voice actors and how Anzu and Yugi’s relationship developed, and I also like how whoever took over Duel Monsters seemed to “pick up” wherever season 0 left off–in the first episode of Duel Monsters, Yami and Yugi already knew each other, and they seem to be very close. (They get closer more and more and it’s just so *rips heart out chest*)

Haven’t seen season 0 before? Check out the whole series on YouTube. Just type in ‘Yugioh season 0’ and you’ll get loads of options to choose from.

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