Yu-Gi-Oh: A Retrospective

I'll admit it.

I played Yu-Gi-Oh when I was in high school.

 

Yeah yeah...say what you will, but Yu-Gi-Oh was the thing to be into back in those days. Many would call Yu-Gi-Oh a watered down Magic the Gathering without the extensive history or immense catalog of usable cards, and maybe they're right, but Yu-Gi-Oh had its own charm.

Looking back on the old episodes of the original series, the cheesiness shines through like a diamond buried in shit, but the reason it was so popular is evident. Imagine yourself a child between the ages of 8-14 and you're watching these supposed teenagers (right...they looked like they were in their 20s but whatever...) skipping out on school regularly to not only play a card game, but save the very world itself BY playing a card game.

On top of all that, every match (or "duel" for those not in the know) seemed like it was the most epic experience imaginable. You had these players (or "duelists") screaming at each other and making each move like they were a Bond villain unveiling their master plan. This was rather clever because this presentation assured that those watching would completely forget that they were, when it boils down to it, playing a card game.

What we pictured when we played the card game...

...and what was actually happening.

Honestly, rewatching the old episodes, I can't imagine how my younger self could even bare sitting through these episodes. They padded out every duel with a combination of explaining what each move in the duel was in excruciating detail, even more excruciating exposition about the power of friendship and faith in yourself, and constantly cutting away to characters not present.

Seriously, the show was almost as bad as DBZ as far as padding is concerned.

I'm finding myself quickly fast-forwarding through any bit that isn't the actual duel taking place in the episode. My older self seems only concerned with watching the epic bits with Yugi (the main protagonist) using his puberty powers to scream at his opponents.

Pictured above: 95% of the show

I'm not even joking. The protagonist basically spends every duel screaming at his opponents. He screams what cards he's playing, he screams what each card does, he screams when the duel swings one way or the other, he screams when he realizes he's out of popsicles, he ALWAYS screams.

But I digress.

As I got older, the natural order of things took effect and I grew out of the playing the game and watching the show. Only now, many years later, when I sit here watching old episodes on Hulu, do these thoughts resurface. As a cartoon, it was the most marketable thing since Pokemon. Hell, I'm certain it even piggybacked OFF of Pokemon.

It also didn't help the prepubescent/early pubescent boys that watched the show that all the female main characters were essentially double-d super models.

....shit!

Holy...

So, the appeal doesn't just come from the "epic" feel of the program, though some of the things pictured above could very well be described as "epic".

These days, I go into my local game store (Tower of Games, located in Chesapeake, VA) and see guys my age playing the Yu-Gi-Oh card game with teenagers and I can only sigh. It's a clear picture of how far the average geek/gamer may or may not evolve over the course of his/her gaming life.

I suppose we all grow out of things someday, right?