Around the time that Pokemon was making an inroad here in the US, another Japanese series was wrapping up its first run, but would follow Pokemon to the US in due course.
Yu-Gi-Oh made its American debut on Kids' WB! in 2001, and, like Pokemon, was imported by 4Kids Entertainment to the US. The series became a mainstay of WB/CW's Saturday lineup for a number of years, but has bounced around of late. Currently, rights are split between the CW, which has it back as part of the Vortexx block, and Nicktoons, which has the earlier series. The current incarnation, Yu-Gi-Oh Zezal, is airing on CW.
When the series arrived in America, 4Kids began not with the 1998 series that launched the franchise, but rather with the 2000 relaunch, otherwise known in its native Japan as Duel Monsters. Don't ask. It could be that 4Kids couldn't get the rights to the 1998 series. Like Pokemon and other imports, there have been succeeding series to continue the franchise.
Here's the Duel Monsters opener, which, as noted, made its US debut in 2001.
I don't play collectible card games, including the one inspired by this show. I've found myself bored watching Yu-Gi-Oh, maybe because it's just too talky for my taste.
Rating: C.
No comments:
Post a Comment