Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Zexal

Do I honestly think ZeXal deserves a 10/10? Not really (8 or 9 but not a perfect 10) but I wanted to offset some of the lower reviews, even just by a little. I only watched the original Japanese version of Zexal, so I cannot comment on the dub other than Yuma's voice is horrendous. Zexal has a really slow start, by that I mean really, you could skip episodes 3-9 and not really miss out on anything. And when I first started Zexal, Yuma was not my cup of tea. However, Yuma's growth in Zexal I is incredible. I find it a little unfairthat people criticize Yuma for being childish when he's a thirteen year old boy. He just wanted to play card games and is dragged into harsh game of circumstances far beyond his control. Zexal is my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! series to date (followed by Arc-V>5D's>DM=GX) and Zexal does have it's faults. The plot is slow to start and some of the characters suffer a lack of character development but for the most part, the characters grow. Yuma begins to change, to grow, in more obvious ways at about episode 40. Astral constantly grows, changing and allowing his character to take shape along with Yuma's decisions. Shark really tastes the character development and Kaito grows so much in zexal I that I truly believe you cannot compare him in the beginning of zexal I to the end of zexal I. I mean, Kaito has taken the spot of my favourite anime character ever and did I think when I started watching zexal that I would love him that much? While some episodes lack the refinement of others, Zexal is undeniably beautiful. The characters in zexal range from mind-blowingly gorgeous to adorable. (Seriously, Astral is gorgeous.) The art in zexal stands above with memorable character designs (almost everyone in zexal looks incredibly different, if I showed people pictures of the main cast I'm positive they wouldn't confuse any of them for each other.) The Sound is also just wonderful. You start to notice the most incredible things when you watch episodes over again and listen to the sounds of the show. For example, if you listen carefully while Kaito summons his powered up Ace-Monster, you can hear Haruto's Theme. It's just... zexal has such memorable songs that I can pick up notes of sounds in the show and hum them at a whim. I also find some of the reasons people hate zexal to be somewhat petty and marinated in nostalgia. Yuma doesn't use Hope anymore than Yusei uses Stardust or Yugi uses Dark Magician or even Yuya using Odd-Eyes. Yuma is incompetent because he is 13 and honestly, at 18, I still don't understand all the schematics of the game. All of the protags have pulled cards out of nowhere and well... have people actually watched more than 15 episodes? Because I seriously have to wonder sometimes. Overall, with my high enjoyment of the show, all I can really say is the zexal experience will be different for everyone. However, if you were to take anything from my review, actually try the show for yourself rather than listen to what everyone has said about zexal. Because, I used to hate zexal and thought it was crap before even giving it a chance but now that I've watched it, I absolutely love it. So seriously, rather than fall onto the "Hate-Zexal bandwagon", maybe give it a chance first then you can decide whether you hate it or not.

Now, now, ZEXAL. The thing with ZEXAL is that if you do not dig the aesthetic, you will have a hard time watching it, especially if you want ~edge~ in your children's card games. Anyway. On with it. Story - 6. It's a card game anime. It's pretty straightforward, really. A pokemon-esque treasure hunt, one tournament; an underlying purpose and other worlds. It's hard to rate it here because without ZEXAL II, said treasure hunt doesn't lead much anywhere. Art - 7. ZEXAL is the prettiest YGO. Some animation is *really* wonky (episode 1 and 2 are unfortunate examples), some is vaguely bad (like the ep whereKaito is naked) but only in the sense that everything looks sorta chibi but sharp-faced. But then you have gems like 58 and 10 and overall relative consistency in a 73-episode show which, not bad. Sound - 10. The OST is a thing. It's amazing. The VAs - especially the ones for the main trio - do an amazing job. OPs and EDs are stellar. OST is used tastefully. It's good. Characters - 9. Alright, let me get one thing straight: Kotori is not a main character. The Numbers Club are not main characters. Stop treating them as if they are. Kotori is major supporting at best since she's relatively three-dimensional, but the Numbers Club are all flat and should not be used as standard for characterization judgement, as you judge a show for its real characters and not its background kids. Ryouga was stellar, no other words for him. He develops immensely while staying true to his initial characterization and I'd sit here forever if I kept talking about him so I'll leave it at that. Kaito and Yuuma are amazing as well, as well as their respective interactions with each other and Ryouga. Especially with Yuuma and Kaito subverting the rival/protag tropes. Astral was good for what he was, but is clearly a matter of taste imho. Kotori did her job but could've had less screen time. Enjoyment - 9. The fillers got in the way, but that's normal for card game anime. Overall - 9. Not as good as ZEXAL II, but, y'know.

to be completely fair, if you aren't willing to watch through the first season of zexal to get to zexal II, then this yugioh series isn't really for you. zexal tends to have a slow 'childish' start/feel to it, but trust me, this improves a whole lot. as for zexal by itself, i would say its a decent series (trying to be unbiased here). however, there are evident problems such as yuma's companions aside from kotori, shark, astral, ect not having much development - making them unlikable or forgettable. as for yuma himself, i believe he undergoes a lot of development, starting off asone of the worst dueling protagonists of them all. however, i have to give the original zexal some credit - for example, the introduction of kaito is probably one of the most serious elements of the series. in addition, a lot of character backstory is provided in the original which is only implied/not evident in II. duel carnival was interesting (imo) in a comedic aspect as well, but the final 'villain' (dr. faker) left something to be desired. this show gets a lot of bull for not being 'serious/in depth', but like i said, if youre willing to watch this first season, you will be thoroughly pleased with zexal II. it has numerous improvement with art, character development, soundtrack, and plot depth. td;lr i'm a HUGE fan of this series, but the beginning is pretty rocky/uninteresting for most, especially those who are long-time yugioh fans. if youre willing to get past the beginning, the end and second season are very rewarding.

This review will be based on the original Japanese version, not the edited English version. Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, the 4th series of the whole Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, was a massive disappointment compared to the previous three series. Unlike the previous three, where they were all connected chronologically. But Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal has no connection to any of the previous three series at all. So basically, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is a series on its own. It does not serve as a sequel to Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s. This series should never have existed, but unfortunately, it did came to existence. This series is a lot more childish compare to any of the previousthree series, which made this series far less enjoyable than the previous three series. Some people thought that Zexal is a sequel, as some monsters from Duel Monsters and Duel Monsters GX were seen in episodes 15. But there is still not enough proof that this is a sequel. Fusion, Ritual, and Syncho monsters (and Tuners) were never used in this series. There were no reference to Neo Domino City either. Instead, we get a childish-looking city called Heartland. The only special type of cards they use are called Xyz. I almost dropped the whole series of Zexal. But what kept me watching was due to the storyline. The storyline seemed decent so far, but still not the best compare to the previous three series. The plot mainly involves dimensions, revenge, and…in the case of Yuma (the main protagonist), searches for his father and collect 99 ‘‘Number(s) Cards’’ for Astral, an alien messenger from the Astral World. The first few episodes were quite boring. They were like fillers to me. Nothing really happened, just duels after duels and get some Number Cards. The pace is almost like the beginning of Duel Monsters GX, which was also quite slow. The plot seemed to be moving a bit just after about episode 20, which got interesting, and got me at least hooked a bit, and it became more interesting in the World Duel Carnival arc. If the plot isn’t good, I would’ve scored a 4 or 5 for this anime and would’ve stopped watching. The plot is the only reason why I’m looking forward to the second part of this series, ‘’Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Second’’, nothing else. Zexal has a lot of annoying parts if anybody have noticed. Unlike the previous three series, where the plot and other things were almost unique to each other. But in Zexal, there were a lot of things that resembles the previous three series: - The Emperor's Key that Yuma wears on his neck is a similar idea to the Millennium Puzzle that Yugi wears. - Astral is a being who is connected to that Key, just like the Pharaoh (Atem), who had a connection with the Puzzle. - Kaito after transforming into his duelling form looked really similar to Jack Atlas from 5D’s. - Xyz monsters followed mostly the same summoning conditions as Sycho monsters from 5D’s. - The World Duel Carnival where there are some implications behind the tournament reminds me of the Fortune Cup and the WRGP (World Riding Grand Prix) in 5D’s, since these tournaments all had some dark intentions behind the scenes. - Both Astral and the Pharaoh were searching for their lost memories. - The Xyz cards have the same background colour as the Dark Syncho cards in 5D's. - And most obvious one, Yuma’s height is like Yugi’s; His hair style is like Yusei’s; His attitude is almost like Judai’s. There maybe more than the ones I listed. But all these were quite annoying. It shows the laziness of the producers, who should at least try to make this another unique Yu-Gi-Oh! series. But they failed. The animation was good. I liked the CG effects for some of the Xyz monsters. But I hated the art style for the characters and some other monster cards! It deviates completely from the art styles of the previous three series. For me, Duel Monsters and 5D’s have the best art styles. Duel Monsters GX is also good. But Zexal failed to have a decent art style. All the buildings were too colourful, and too much different colours on them. Also, some characters such as Tokunosuke and Tetsuo, don’t even look like a normal human. Not to mention Yuma’s hair looked ridiculous with the pinky colour in the middle! The opening and ending themes in Zexal were really good. Particularly the 2nd opening and ending songs. Though I hated the 3rd opening song for some reason. The OSTs in each episode were good, but not all of them though. Some OSTs for duels were really good, as they capture the tension during the duels. The mightiest annoyance in Zexal are the characters. I loved Yugi, Judai, and Yusei very much from the previous three series. As all of them had a great character development. Judai was a bit annoying sometimes, but in later episodes, he bacame a decent character. I was expecting Yuma to be a decent character too, but he turned out to be the worst protagonist ever! He is amateur at duelling at the start of the show, so it’s almost like everything starts on a new page. The re-explanation of how to play the card game was just annoying, Yuma’s childish behaviour was intolerable, especially during duels that were meant to be really serious. But he is not as annoying as Tokunosuke and Takashi. Both of them were really annoying and should be kicked out from the whole series! Cathy (or Cat-chan) is also quite annoying. But at least Kaito and Ryoga were very interesting characters. Both were really serious during tense situations and never acted childish at all. Kotori was a good character as well. Most of the main villains were ok, particularly Tron, as the theme of revenge comes from him. I enjoyed this series, but not very much. The duels were ok, but somehow not as exciting to watch as the other series. Yuma vs. III is the only duel I liked so far. And the duel against one of the main villains (Dr. Faker). The plot is the only thing that made this series at least worth watching. For those who hate childish characters like in this series, then Zexal would not be the anime for you. But if you are a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! and have no bother of annoying characters, then you might like this series.

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