Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)
Yu-Gi-Oh!遊☆戯☆王Yūgiō
Genre	Action, Adventure, Gaming
Anime series
Directed by	Hiroyuki Kakudo
Studio	Toei Animation
Network	TV Asahi
Original run	April 4, 1998 — October 10, 1998
No. of episodes	27

Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王 Yūgiō, trans. "King of Games", occasionally subtitled "A Game of Darkness" or The Shadow Games or incorrectly referred to as "First Season", or "Season Zero" by fans) is the first anime adaptation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series. The 27-episode series was produced by Toei Animation and aired on TV Asahi from April 4 to October 10, 1998.

While this series is not directly connected to Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (known internationally simply as Yu-Gi-Oh!, produced by Nihon Ad Systems and aired on TV Tokyo), both anime series are based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.

Manga plots were re-written so that they could take up an entire episode's worth of 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. However, the Duel Monsters rules have been updated, becoming more like those used in the Duelist Kingdom, even though this anime never gets to that point. 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.

Yami no Game

In this series, Yami Yugi doesn't challenge people to a duel of Duel Monsters. Instead, he would challenge them to a Shadow Game, or Yami no Game, where he would then explain the rules. However, the person in question would cheat and the Doors of Darkness will open, thus Yami Yugi would do a Penalty Game upon the person, and usually whatever they obsess over the most would be their nightmare, such as their makeup falling off and showing their true face or watches fusing to their being. Duel Monsters was not the main point of the show but was played a few times.

Seiyū

Japanese character name	Seiyū
Yugi Muto / Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi)	Megumi Ogata
Katsuya Jounouchi	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 Katsuya	Michiko Neya
Gozaburo Kaiba	Unshou Ishizuka
Ushio	Ryuzaburo Otomo
Miyuki Sakurai	Yuri Amano
Ryuichi Fuha	Ryo Horikawa
Aileen Rao	Miina Tominaga
Heida	Atsushi Kisaichi
Ridley Sheldon	Chikao Ohtsuka
Ms. Chono	Masako Katsuki
Kiwami Warashibe	Nobuo Tobita
Kokurano	Shigeru Chiba
Playing Card Bomber	Ryusei Nakano
Risa Kageyama A	Wakana Yamazaki
Risa Kageyama B	Emi Uwagara
Risa Kageyama C	Konomi Maeda
Tetsu	Nobuyuki Hiyama
Daimon	Ryuji Saikachi
Imori	Megumi Urawa
Dragon	Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kaoruko Himekouji	Yumi Touma
Pokii	Konomi Maeda
Pao	Masaya Takatsuka
Detective	Hiroshi Ito
School nurse	Michie Tomizawa

Episode list

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime) episode listing

VHS

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime) VHS listing

Trivia

• Despite being his trump card in the next series, Yugi never played "Dark Magician" in this show.
  • However, Yugi is seen using it in the opening theme.
  • "Dark Magician" is also seen in the hand of another duelist in episode 3.
  • Yugi finally Summons "Dark Magician" in the Toei Movie.
• "Unguard Magic" (the Toei equivalent of "Stop Defense") is the only card in English.
• Characters are more accurate to their manga equivalents.
  • Kaiba is seen with green hair and wears a white outfit like Noah Kaiba in the third season of the next series.
• Some manga chapters are packed together in one episode (eg. the 3 chapters with Hirutani occur in only one episode).
• The Millennium Items are not gold-colored only. In fact, they are colored gold and brown (except for Yugi's Puzzle).
• Most of the dark games are changed, except for the Dragon Card against Himori and Shadi's tests.
• Most of the monsters are colored differently, except for "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
• The card backings show stylised "MW" letters for "Magic and Wizards", even though the characters refer to the game as Duel Monsters.
• Cards are played on a duel mat with different areas depicted. All these areas give a 30% bonus to monsters placed in the right area.
  • This is similar to the "field power bonus" in the Duelist Kingdom arc in the next series.
• Only a few duels use Kaiba's virtual reality system to show monsters.
  • Others ideas used to show monsters are puppets, Dark Games, ...