Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)
Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王 Yūgiō, meaning "King of Games") is the title of the first anime series based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.
The series is not connected in any way to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters series (known internationally as simply Yu-Gi-Oh!), which was made by Nihon Ad Systems and aired on TV Tokyo; both anime series are based on the same manga series.
Fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! may use the fan name "Yu-Gi-Oh! A Shadow Game" to refer to this show, or they may incorrectly use "Yu-Gi-Oh! first season" or "zero season" to refer to this show.
The 1st series, which aired on TV Asahi from April 4, 1998 to October 10, 1998 for a 27-episode run, was produced by Toei Animation. Manga plots were re-written so that they could take up an entire episode time. Also, the level of violence was reduced between the manga and the anime. Finally, a minor character in the manga, Miho Nosaka, became a main character in the first series along with Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki, and Hiroto Honda. Characterization was slightly modified. For instance, Miho is a "ditz" in the anime while in the manga she is a shy student librarian. Also, Honda is Jonouchi's verbal sparring partner instead of his crony in Toei's anime.
New characters and plots, such as those relating to the four game masters, were added, and there are more occurrences of Seto Kaiba and Duel Monsters (Magic and Wizards in the original Japanese manga) than in the corresponding manga. Unlike the second series, the card game (Duel Monsters) is not the sole focus of the show. The last episodes of the series focus on the battle between Yugi and Dark Bakura. This series had different voice actors and different character designs than the second series (e.g. Seto Kaiba's hair is green in Toei's anime). The series has not been licensed for an English language release.
Seiyū
- Yugi Mutou / Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi) - Megumi Ogata
- Katsuya Jonouchi - Toshiyuki Morikawa
- Anzu Mazaki - Yumi Kakazu
- Hiroto Honda - Ryotaro Okiayu
- Ryo Bakura / Dark Bakura - Tsutomu Kashiwakura
- Seto Kaiba - Hikaru Midorikawa
- Miho Nosaka - Yukana Nogami
- Mokuba Kaiba - Katsue Miwa
- Sugoroku Mutou - Takeshi Aono
- Shadi - Kaneto Shiozawa
- Shizuka Jonouchi (a.k.a. Shizuka Kawai or Serenity Wheeler) - Michiko Neya
- Miyuki Sakurai - Yuri Amano
- Ryuichi Fuha - Ryo Horikawa
- Ailean Rao - Miina Tominaga
- Ridley Sheldon - Chikao Ohtsuka
- Chono-sensei - Masako Katsuki
- Tetsu - Nobuyuki Hiyama
- Daimon - Ryuji Saikachi
- Kageyama sister C - Konomi Maeda
- Dragon - Nobuyuki Hiyama
- Kaoruko Himekoji - Yumi Touma
- Pokii - Konomi Maeda
- Pao - Masaya Takatsuka
