Card Games Are Serious Business!

     I always say my passion for “Japanimation” began in college (2006), when I discovered the Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket. I’ve always credited this series as my “first,” in terms of it being the first manga I read and the first anime series I watched. I’ve also attributed by enduring love of Japanese anime and manga to this series, as it sparked my imagination in a way no other series had before.
     But I got to thinking the other day and realized…the very first anime I ever watched was Yu-Gi-Oh! I was probably in the 5th or 6th grade when iIstarted to watch the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series on KidsWB. At this time, Pokemon was extremely popular with my male classmates, so I was already vaguely aware of the almost frantic obsession with Japanese card games.
     I remember watching Yu-Gi-Oh! secretly; I knew my mom didn’t approve of the weird characters (Yugi’s pink and gold spiky hair didn’t help much!), creepy monsters and the slightly occultish “heart of the cards,” so I remember switching the channel whenever I heard her coming to check on my siblings and I during our after-school cartoon watching.

     Even though it was years ago, I still remember how the storyline of Yu-Gi-Oh! fascinated me—I’d never seen anything like it. I loved the psychological interplay between the duelists and trying to figure out how Yugi was going to win his matches against seemingly overwhelming odds. And then there was the mysteries that envelop the series…
     
     Who is the mysterious “Yami” who only manifests himself during the heat of battle?
     What is behind Pegasus’ obsession with the Millennium Items?
     Just how do the Millennium Items and Ancient Egypt tie into a modern card game?

     The very first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! centers around the titular character, Yugi Moto, and his friends as they compete in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament to rescue Yugi’s grandfather from Maximillion Pegasus, the creator (or rather, re-inventor) of the Duel Monsters Card Came and the first villain of the series.
     There are episodes from this first season that I still remember vividly to this day – like Joey and Yugi battling against the rhyming duelist brothers Para and Dox in their underground labyrinth, Yugi battling against Seto Kaiba’s Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Yugi’s brilliant defense behind the seemingly worthless Kuriboh and Yugi’s epic duel and victory against Pegasus’ garishly creepy cartoon-themed card deck and mind-reading abilities.
     But the fondest memory I have from Yu-Gi-Oh! is how it changed my perceptions about villains and the roles they in a story. Pegasus is so evil, so manipulative and so downright cruel that you absolutely DESPISE him by the time he and Yugi duel. After his defeat, we are given a pretty insightful look into his past, and I remember (even back then) suddenly pitying him…and dare I say, almost liking him. He is a truly tragic character and driven in his deep grief to restore the vast void left by his beloved late wife through any means necessary.  Severely weakened by his duel against Yugi, he is attacked by another character and stripped of his power and pride.
     He was the first villain who challenged his role in my eyes—I wasn’t sure who or what he was at that point in the series. Was he truly the villain anymore…or was he more of an anti-hero like Seto Kaiba?

     So anyway, when I saw Yu-Gi-Oh! on Hulu.com, I decided to re-watch the first season this past weekend simply for nostalgia’s sake. And oh, am I glad I did! Watching the characters exchange their painfully cheesy English lines was so painful and yet so intensely entertaining. It brought back good memories of afternoons full of 90’s goodness—Animaniacs, Pinky & The Brain, Batman Beyond and...

Yu-Gi-Oh!