Search - Yu-Gi-Oh! Vol. 1 - The Shadow Games (Uncut) on DVD

Another Good and Informational Review

02/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everything possible to say about these uncut episodes has been said, but there's always room for more. This is the original Yu-Gi-Oh...not an American-edited impostor. Not that the dubbed episodes are that bad, it's just better to see the real deal.

Volumes 1 and 2 give you the pureness of the first six episodes of the original Japanese anime. Too bad it's not "season zero" (The first 27-or-so episodes that run on the storyline of the manga series) but nobody gets everything they want, right? Anyway, I really don't see why 4Kids had to edit it, because nothing is really wrong with it. The so-called "violence" isn't any more or less extreme, and the dialogue actually makes more sense. The changeable things are a given, like the card animation, the brief nudity of the Harpie Lady (soon covered by Cyber Shield), the ONE time when Joey/Jonouchi swears, which I also find wonderfully amusing (unless you count "Darn it" as a profanity, which in that case, he swears 3 times...and you're really uptight[no offense]), and when Tea/Anzu calls Mai a "pheromone hussy" (Which isn't really that bad, but I honestly think "selfish, pompous, bleach-blonde, know-it-all windbag" is more amusing [see American-dub episode 5]). Those things are easily fixed, but 4Kids had to make it even more complicated for themselves and screwed up the whole part where Joey/Jonouchi asks Yugi's Grandpa to teach him how to play Duel Monsters in the second episode. The poster that Grandpa was putting up in the Kame Game Shop was actually a tournament announcement, and the only reason Grandpa was so "iffy" about teaching Joey was because he didn't think Joey was worthy of "the Heart of the Cards."

I could understand the reason 4Kids would have to edit the character's mouths to fit in better suited, faster-speaking dialogue if they would leave it and air it that way it was. Everyone talks really slow, like they're mentally challenged. And sometimes the translations are really weird, like in the Insector Combo (Vol. 2), when Yugi's Beaver Warrior is destroyed, he gasps and goes, "My man!" I found this extremely entertaining, and laughed uncontrollably.

But so far, the best thing that was changed was Pegasus' name, originally Pegasus J. Crawford. WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT?!?! He looks more like a Maxamillion Pegasus to me. It sounds a lot more prima-donna-ish, which is really the effect that he's supposed to give off. Crawford just doesn't really fit well for a stuck-up guy like him.

The thing that bothers me most about the English voice-overs is that Mai's voice is not the same as the one they have in the 1st and 2nd seasons. The woman that did Mai's voice doesn't match her...it's just not the same! It sounds like it belongs to an old lady or something. At least the voice change in season 4 matches her a bit better...even though you can tell that it's different.

A couple of exciting bonus features on these DVD's are the original Japanese dialogue (I was kind of hesitant about watching it like this, but I think it makes watching YGO more fun) and the original Japanese theme songs. You can choose to put English subtitles during the songs, but they really kind of take away from the originality, not to mention that they don't make much sense ("...Game cartridges stuck in my room..." "And don't even move your brows..." whatever that means...).

My DVD is kind of screwed up sometimes though...I don't know if it's my DVD player or the DVD, but when I'm on the menu, sometimes the highlighter/selector thing doesn't show up and I have to start the DVD again (and go through all the commercials...which you can't fast-forward through the first half, so basically, you'll be able to memorize the WWF action figure ad at the beginning). If your DVD does this too, you're not alone, and if it doesn't, then my DVD player is just weird.

I hope this review was somewhat helpful, because it took a long time to type. I am so YGO crazy! And if this product still doesn't fit your YGO craving...I also recommend Yu-Gi-Oh! The Complete (American Dub) First Season on DVD, and any of the Yu-Gi-Oh Power of Chaos CD-ROM's (I own Yugi the Destiny and Kaiba the Revenge, I haven't had the time or money to get Joey the Passion), and don't buy the three-episode DVD's of the second season, because 4Kids might come out with another box set (This hasn't been confirmed, but I'd rather wait and save about $40). Have a YGO filled day!
"

Yugioh: Volume One

Brooks Austin | 01/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"5,000 years ago, the fates of men and kings were decided by deadly games known as "Yami no Game" (aka "The Shadow Games"). There were seven magical items possesed by powerful sorcerors known as the Millienium Items. One of these items, the Sennen (aka "Millienium") Puzzle belonged to an ancient pharoah that went by the name "Yami", which gave him strange and mystical powers. Years later, the puzzle was discovered in ancient Egyptian ruins, and somehow wound up in the hands of ordinary teenage boy Mutou Yugi.

It was completely broken in pieces, and Yugi believed that if he put the puzzle together again, it would grant him his wish. So, he wished for friends, and surprisingly, when Yugi completed the puzzle, it granted that wish through his new friends, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu. But the Sennen Puzzle ended up giving Yugi more than he bargained for. Embedded deep within the confines of the puzzle was a dark, ancient spirit that would temporarily take control over Yugi's body, and would challenge those who "trespassed in his soul" to a "Yami no Game." These games were very deadly and the loser would have to face a "Pentaly Game", which revealed the true nature of the players' souls.

Fast-forward to the present time. Yugi and his friends have just gotten hooked on the popular Duel Monsters card game. After defeating president of Kaiba Corp and Duel Monsters champion, Kaiba Seto, Yugi is invited to attend the Duelist Kingdom tournament, hosted by world-famous Pegasus J. Crawford, inventor of the Duel Monstes game himself. Yugi has no choice but to accept this invitation, for Pegasus has kidnapped his grandfather, and the only way for Yugi to rescue him is to defeat Pegasus and win the tournament. Yugi's friends tag along for the journey, and along with his best friend Jonouchi, Yugi must duel his way to the top. All the while discovering secrets about himself and his friends that he never knew about, and learning about the secret deadly magic of the Millienium Items....

Yugioh is a popular shounen anime (cartoons for boys) that began as a humble manga (comic books) series in 1996, written and drawn by Takahashi Kazuki-san. It was seralized in the Shounen Jump magazine and continues to to be published to this date. The series became an instant success, spawning two anime series, dozens of merchandise, and a real-world card game. The first Yugioh anime series, produced by Toei Animation, was first aired on Japanese television in 1996. This series was based on the early chapters of the manga, revolving around the introduction of Yugi and his friends, and revealing how our hero solved the Sennen Puzzle. Unfortunately, this series didn't perform very well in Japan due to its poor voice actors, bizarre animation, and lack of direction, so only 27 episodes were ever produced.

In 1998, a second Yugioh series, completely separate from the first anime was produced, entitled Yugioh: Duel Monsters. This series was based on the later chapters of the manga, revolving around Yugi's life as a champion duelist. This series was much more successful, running for around six seasons and over a hundred episodes. This anime had been adapted into many different languages, with some adaptions being better than others, and some being down right awful. And the DVD that you're looking at now contains episodes one through three of this series. For the first time ever, uncut Yugioh is now commercially available in the U.S. This DVD release not only contains the original Japanese version presented with English subtitles, but also contains a new, uncut English adaption.

While the subtitles on the Japanese langauge track are indeed dubtitles (closed-captions for the English dub), the new dub is so incredibly accurate to the Japanese version that this doesn't present any major problems at all. One thing that is particulary interesting is that the new dub, while uncut and accurately-translated, continues to use the names of the characters from the English edited version, but the Japanese names are included in the subtitles. This is just a bizarre decision, and most fans don't understand why 4Kids didn't just decide to use the Japanese names for the new dub, since they're re-dubbing the entire show, anyway.

The video and audio quality is very good, but the audio is a little lower on the Japanese language track than it is on the English language track. Another interesting thing about these DVDs is that rather than translating the Japanese text in the credits to English like most anime companies do, 4Kids decided to leave the text in Japanese. While this may please most Yugioh otakus, the more casual anime fan would appreciate a set of credits written in English somewhere on the disc, which seems to be completly absent here. Also omitted from the discs are the next episode previews, which may inevitably displease many Yugioh otakus, but all they showed were clips of next week's episode, so the skipping of these previews doesn't de-tract the enjoyment of the show any.

While the new English dub is completely uncut (with the expcetion of the names), featuring all of the visual footage and original Japanese background music left entirely in-tact, the new dub still suffers from poor voice acting. All of the familiar voice artists from the English edited version are reprising their roles here, but the acting feels even worse in the uncut dub than in the edited version because it feels like the voice artists are trying almost too hard to match the lip-movement, so it doesn't sound natural. Luckly, the Japanese version is optional here, so Yugioh fans can enjoy the series the way it was meant to be seen.

Contrary to what Funimation is trying to tell you, the dialog and subtitles do not count as extras, and there doesn't seem to be any bonus features on these discs whatsoever, aside from some trailers for other Funimation products. This may prove to be a dissappointment to fans expceting textless opening/ending credits or character profiles, but at least Yugioh fans have the official English subbed version licensed now. The two biggest problems with this DVD release are the unskippable previews at the beginning of the disc, and the fact that Funimation is only releasing three episodes per volume.

While this does make the price of the individual DVDs cheaper (most uncut anime DVDs are $30 each, but the uncut Yugioh DVDs are only $20), in the end this move will make longer series like Yugioh very expensive and difficult to collect, as well as take up excessive space in many anime collector's shelves. Overall though, this DVD release isn't as bad as one would think it is. Yugioh fans have to remember that this is 4Kids' first attempt at releasing subbed anime. There was a time when they wouldn't even acknowledge the fact the shows they were licensing were Japanese, let alone release subbed versions of their titles, and uncut Yugioh was once nothing more than a dream, but now that dream has been realized.

Hopefully, 4Kids will be able to improve the quality of their subbed releases in the future, but the only way they'll be able to do that is if the fans show their support for uncut anime in the U.S. by buying these DVDs. Yugioh otakus, don't let the few errors on this DVD release discourage you from buying it because it's not as bad as you think it is. If you've only seen the English edited version of Yugioh and have been dying to see the Japanese version, don't pass this opporunity up to own it for yourselves.

If you already own a shady subbed copy of uncut Yugioh, you should replace it with the real deal. And if you're a casual anime fan who's been interested in Yugioh for quite some time now, but the English adaption has been discouraging you from checking it out, now is the time for you to invest in this great series. Yugioh is an excellent anime with unique animation, great characters, and an exiciting storyline that doesn't fail to deliver, and what better way to enjoy it, than to experience it the way it was meant to be seen: uncut and unedited. Yugioh is rated TVPG for animated violence, some strong language, adult humor, and brief nudity."

I Still Think Yer All Bein' A Tad Nitpicky...

Bailey-chan | Somewhere south of heaven | 07/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, okay, I didn't give my time to read all 24 of the reviews that were already here PLUS I'm a little slow on the up-take (this was actually the first I'd heard about UNCUT YGO DVDs @.@ go me...) BUT, even though I haven't seen these yet, I've read enough about them to know that some of the reviewers here are acting like they got a giant stick up their arse!! Honestly! Funimation is doing us all a great service by releasing a DVD with an UNCUT JAPANESE version of each episode! So the subtitles are a little shakey - so what?! If that REALLY bothers you, go learn Japanese and move to Japan! Then you won't have to deal with the few errors these wonderful people who work hard to give us an actual representation of the dialogue make! Another dumb complaint: "some of the boys are voiced by Japanese women" - I'm sorry, but you're further out of the loop than I am if you think this is "bad". Yugi is a short kid - a little kid, if you will. All little kids who haven't hit puberty yet sound like girls so the Japanese voice the majority of little boys with girls. Oh darn.
Personally, I'll buy these DVDs with my last pennies if it means that I get to hear the ORIGINAL JAPANESE voices of Yugi, Bakura Ryo, and Malik (or Marik, whatever). I'm really tired of hearing Yami no Marik sound like a constipated old man (although I'm quite fond of Bakura's British accent in the dubs =3).
Oh, and Harpie Lady's attire? Oh darn - blue cartoon boobies!! Jeeze, some people...
Ah, the "guns" in the dubs - "I'm gonna poke you!!" Please... I'm gouging my eyes out...
Oh, I don't think a lot of people know this - the Millenium Rod of Marik's? It holds a nifty little blade that HE STABS HIS FATHER WITH. No Shadow Realm for him =3 Bwee~
Okay, I've thrown in my two cents ^-^ Now you may start hating me =3 I still want my Mariku-chan X3

[EDIT] BTW, if you want bad subtitles, try watching Hong Kong bootlegs XD They had Seto as "Zither" for a few episodes - and he's not the only one who got screwed in the translations."

Great

Eddie | Cali | 11/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It wasnt as scary as i imagined. It was the best. Seeing yugioh as it was meant to be seen. And it has a real opening and closing song."