Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Sevens is, as the name implies, the seventh instalment in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise. Quite frankly, if you want my opinion summed up in a flash, it's a breath of fresh air from the otherwise stagnant state previous anime found themselves in. As such a statement implies, Sevens is radically different from its predecessors. To give you a list, it's: Slice of life focused, got tight knit 12 to 15 episode arcs, good about not forgetting plot points and, most importantly of all, it's light-hearted. It takes a more comedic angle of attack compared to the more traditionally heroic predecessors. This means that Sevens has alot of jokes, puns and catchphrases in it; this may be off-putting to some. In my opinion, the show was hitting all the right spots with its comedy. Mileage may vary, however, as I recognize it's not something everyone is going to appreciate or enjoy. Naturally, even for those who do enjoy the comedy, not all of it is going to land for every person. To me, though, the quality of gags is consistently high enough to be an entertaining ride start-to-finish.
That being said, while Sevens likes to goof around a lot, that doesn't mean there's no story to be found. We follow our main character, Ohdo Yuuga, as he tries to change the rigid world of dueling by installing his new "Rush Duel" format of rules. He has all sorts of misadventures trying to protect his new format, together with the help of some friends he picks up along the way of course. There's always a new antagonist out to destroy rush duels once and for all. As you may have guessed, Rush Duels play a very important part in the story. If you're not familiar with them, though, you may ask this: what *are* they? I'll give you a rundown, but I'll be assuming you know how the original game works. To be short about it, it's a completely separate format with its own card pool made up of largely new cards, separate from the main game of "Yu-Gi-Oh!". You can normal summon any number of times in the turn. The player for their turn draws until their hand is up to 5 cards. There are only 3 monster and spell/trap zones and, finally main phase 2 is entirely gone. It goes straight from the battle phase to end phase.
With the quick explanation of *what* rush duels are out of the way, one thing you're going to have to live with in this show is that EVERY duel is a rush duel. Master duels are not the focus here, and won't be for the forseeable future of the franchise... and unfortunately for Sevens, if it falls short in any department, then its duel writing would be that. Most duels in Sevens are only one episode and during that time last only four turns. With the format being entirely new, this doesn't help its early duels to stand out. While the latter half of the show can keep things exciting due to building on mechanics established earlier, the first half of Sevens will feel painfully slow (which is ironic, given the nature of the duels) as plays are overly simplified for the sake of easing new players into a new game. Duels can also feel incredibly... rushed. As stated, however, this problem is mostly resolved in the back end of the show. There are also other aspects that stand out as much, much stronger.
For one, the character writing in Sevens is positively charming. While it's true that most characters have a gimmick to them that they refuse to drop at any point in the show, they still manage to be more than -just- their gimmick. Almost everyone you'll meet, even the one-shot characters, is endearing in their own unique way. The cast bounces off each-other well and the core cast of characters, especially our protagonist Yuuga, are all incredibly likeable. You genuinely want to root for these kids as they try to fight and work towards their dreams, especially as their goals are often innocent and very admirable. Sevens' character writing is incredibly optimistic, with very little cynicism to be found. It makes for a refreshing breather from how miserable some of the other shows could get at their most dramatic.
The story is also a positive, as while not always the most complex, it does keep building on itself. Not a single plot point is forgotten and even a character who's only shown up once in the first 10 episodes can suddenly make a quick reappearance to help out in the final arc. There are some signs of rushing the plot near the end, but overall you get the sense that the writers knew what story they wanted to tell and kept building to their intended climax. Sevens takes a slight mystery aspect to it, where it leaves the audience guessing as to what the bigger picture is. It helps draw an interconnected thread throughout the various mini-arcs and, overall, these elements work incredibly well to tell a coherent and consistent tale across its 92 episodes. While Sevens doesn't pretend to get dark for even a moment, there's still an incredibly fun ride to be had.
As you may have guessed, I personally really like the show. It's charming in so many ways and so very, very different from everything else in its franchise. If you go in with an open mind and don't expect the traditional "Yu-Gi-Oh!" experience, you might find a lot to like here. Even if you don't, there is no world in which sevens could be considered a bad show. There are certainly more issues you could raise with the characters and story writing than I presently have, this is true. That doesn't mean that its lows are awful by any means, though. Its quality is consistent, for better or worse, and if you like the first few episodes even a little, there is no doubt you'll enjoy the rest of the show as it only gets better over time.
Recommended
Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens is the seventh entry in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise (I don’t count the 1998 Toei anime). My reason for making this review is to incite people to give a chance to the series despite the low rating and the hate surrounding it because while it may not be what hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh! fans wanted, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad anime! I will be making broad comparisons with other series in the franchise since most of the people that know Sevens are Yu-Gi-Oh! fans but the show is totally stand-alone. It is important to note that as of the time I am writing this, there is nolegal way to watch the show outside of Japan and Korea which can be a turn-off.
Story:
Sevens’ story is pretty simple given that the anime is aimed at a younger audience. Oudou Yuuga, the main character, is a student of Seventh Goha Elementary School who feels that the current format of dueling is too rigid. Therefore, he thought up a new format called Rush Duels by himself. With the help of his classmates Luke and Gakuto, he manages to install Rush Duels in Goha city’s system. From there, his goal is to promote Rush Duels and protect them from the people opposed to the change.
Rush duels are different from Master duels which were used in all of the other shows. In this format, you can draw until you have 5 cards in your hand every turn and you can normal summon as much as you want. The extra deck summoning methods are also gone for most of the show which makes duels much simpler. I know a lot of competitive Master duel players hate Rush duels and dismiss the anime for this reason. I can’t blame them but I think they’re a nice change of pace. However, it’s true that the early duels aren’t that good and kind of predictable since they’re used as tutorials.
The anime employs a 13 to 15-episode arc structure which has its ups and downs. On one side, that means that arcs and duels never drag on too long so you don’t really have time to get bored. On the other side, 13 episodes isn’t a lot of time to develop new characters and plot lines. This is a problem in multiple arcs but especially in the 4th one which is a tournament arc.
Another thing to note is that unlike other Yu-Gi-Oh! shows, Sevens doesn’t drop plot lines and likes to make seemingly unimportant details important later on which I definitely appreciate. It’s also a comedy-based show with very few life-or-death situations so don’t go in with the wrong expectations or you could be disappointed.
Art:
The biggest change going from Studio Gallop who made the previous shows in the franchise to Studio Bridge was dropping the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! chara-designs. I do like the old designs better but while they may seem generic at first glance, Sevens’ designs aren’t bad either. My main issue is that they were probably changed because the old ones were too complicated to animate but the animation hasn’t improved. The show never looks horrible but there aren’t a lot of sakuga moments either which is a shame. It’s not that much of a surprise though since Bridge has never done any great shows animation-wise.
Sound:
Every Yu-Gi-Oh! anime has a good soundtrack and Sevens is no exception. It doesn’t reach the heights of 5D’s or Arc-V but I really like Romin, Luke and Neil’s themes in particular.
The 1st opening is very catchy which fits with the tone of the show. As for the 2nd one, it’s more of a classic shonen opening which works as well. The 1st ending is the school anthem sung by the cast which is cute and the 2nd one is a comfy upbeat song. Overall, I like all the theme songs but my favorite is still the 1st opening.
There are also two insert songs which is pretty cool.
The vocal performances are great both in comedic and serious moments. As usual with Yu-Gi-Oh!, there are a lot of new seiyuus so their performances stand out even more, in this case the highlight being Ishibashi Hiiro as Yuuga. At first I didn’t like his voice that much but he really improved over the course of the series and in the end his performance fits Yuuga perfectly.
Character:
Oudou Yuuga: Yuuga is a kind, calm and intelligent character who makes deductions to solve problems on his own. He’s the inventor of Rush duels and unlike past protagonists his goal is for everyone to have fun, not to be the best duelist. He’s a pleasant character to watch and even though he can feel kind of underused there are big moments that remind you that he’s the main character.
Kamijou Tatsuhisa aka Luke: Luke is the deuteragonist of the show. He’s a self-centered, naive and pretty dumb elementary schooler but he’s very good at dueling and he comes through for his friends when it counts. His goal is to become the King of Duels and there are a lot of mysteries surrounding him. Luke is by far the most hated character of the show from what I’ve seen online since he can be annoying and the creators gave him a lot of screen time, especially in the second half. I can’t deny that Luke being my favorite character might have improved my enjoyment of Sevens which is why I felt the need to say it here.
Kirishima Romin: The main female lead. Romin is a guitarist for the school band called RoaRomin. Initially, she has no interest in dueling and hides secrets from the rest of the group. She’s by far the best treated female lead in Yu-Gi-Oh! history with meaningful wins all the way to the end of the show. Her character arc is nothing special but it’s fine for what it is.
Sougetsu Gakuto: Gakuto is the student council president and the heir of the Sougetsu clan. In the 1st episode he’s very over the top and kind of obnoxious but he quickly becomes likable as the straight man of the group.
These are the main four characters and most of the story revolves around their dynamic. The show does a good job showing you that they’re a group of friends despite their differences.
There are a lot of side characters but the most important ones are the rivals for the first 3 story arcs: Roa, the singer of RoaRomin, Neil, the administrator of Goha city’s system and Asana, the president of Sixth Goha Elementary School’s machine cavalry club. They each get their own character arc which are for the most part satisfying to follow.
The rest of the cast is relatively well-used with each character making at least one other appearance after their debut episode. Female characters also get treated like normal characters which shouldn’t be something I have to make note of, but the way they were handled in other Yu-Gi-Oh! anime was so bad that this is an improvement.
Enjoyment:
Overall, I had a lot of fun watching Sevens. It has a lot of flaws and I wasn’t a big fan of the last arc but the lighthearted tone was a nice change of pace and the cast was generally treated better than in past entries. If you want to watch a series that doesn’t take itself too seriously, I would recommend it!
Thank you for reading!
Mixed Feelings
I can already bet before writing this, that there are going to be so many uninterested views on this Yugioh, as it's not the Yugioh we grew up with, that we loved and cherished. Because it's really not. Going from Vrains to this, is just like going from 5ds to the start of Zexal. It'll really take you out of it. But I can give it the benefit of the doubt, as maybe in the long run this set up may work out for them, or if they look back, and see if it did well or not. I can least say they tried inthat regard. Along with the fact that the idea of Rush duels, brought new life into a pretty much stacked and overloaded game. As a player who can't really get back into it for those reasons, and seeing ow Rush duels brought that feeling back, it deserves praise in that regard.
As for the show however? It's pretty standard.
Story and characters: 6
The story while it's not complete and utter boring and bad. It's fitting for a kids kind of show, though again, it doesn't feel like a usual Yugioh show, but maybe that's the point? To be more low down, and free. To bring back the enjoyment factor, rather than be super heavy on it. Sevens brings the idea that Duels are controlled. That you have to go by tis system, or you risk your dueling being taken away. But that's where our MC Yuga comes in, and invents his own dueling in the form of Rush duels, and the story follows him and his friends path through Rush duels, and to be the best duelist. Pretty standard, and pretty alright for a kids show, but in a Yugioh context, might be that engaging.
The characters can sometimes be a highlight, but then sometimes they can not be. Sometimes having a core can really hit ome in a Yugioh show, and while certain characters stood out more, it was quite clear that some felt like one trick ponies, or just weren't all that fun. Besides those though, there are some good characters in there, that do deserve the spotlight. Romin is fun, Nail is a great character, and show much more, as if they have their own charms to them, and it really shows. Which perfect fits for the audience it's trying to meet. It doesn't need to be overly detailed, it just has to fit within it's universe, and it does it's job fairly well. It can be given props for that. No matter if the humor will be hit and miss depending who you are and your tastes, but you can see the fun they had with this, and it really shows.
Art and sound: 6
While Rush has a more it's own style compared to previous shows. It still really stands out and really does sit well with me. The animation of the monsters, and how they're animated with their backgrounds and such, it's really well done stuff. If one thing that they really got right when it comes to this show, is not only the style of the art in general, but the sound part too. All from the reactions of the characters, the OP and ED themes are a decent listen. It makes for a nice style, and a good listen overall.
Sevens feels like the people behind Yugioh wanted to try something different, and go a bit kid friendly, in order to bring a bit more fun to the franchise, which it honestly needed. On paper, yeah, it might not standout on top of the Yugoh pyramid. But it's certainly not a terrible show at all.
