Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Japanese Logo
遊☆戯☆王: 5D's (Yu-Gi-Oh: 5D's)
Genre	Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science fiction, Comedy, Romance
TV anime
Directed by	Katsumi Ono
Written by	Naoyuki Kageyama
Studio	Studio Gallop
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	Network Ten, Cartoon Network YTV RTE Two CITV & Sky One (only the first 14 EP) The CW4Kids, Cartoon Network, Toonzai
Original run	April 2, 2008 – March 30, 2011
Episodes	154 (only 123 dubbed) (List of episodes)
Manga
Written by	Masashi Satou
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	VIZ Media
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	V-Jump
Original run	August 2009 – ongoing
Anime and Manga Portal

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (遊☆戯☆王5D's（ファイブディーズ）, Yūgiō Faibu Dīzu^?, lit. "Game King: 5D's") is a Yu-Gi-Oh! series which aired in Japan between April 2, 2008 and March 30, 2011, following the previous series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and was succeeded by Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, on April 11, 2011. 5D's is also the first Yu-Gi-Oh! series to be broadcast in widescreen.

Much like the previous series, it focuses around characters playing a card game Duel Monsters, despite the fact the 'Duel Monsters' tagline has been dropped from the Japanese title. This series introduces new types of cards such as Synchro Monsters, that are reflected in the Official Trading Card Game. During the series, in addition to regular duels using Duel Disks, a new type of Duel Disk, motorcycle-like vehicles, called "Duel Runners" ("D-Wheels" in the Japanese version) is used, and the duelists engage in games called "Turbo Duels" ("Riding Duels" in the Japanese version).^[1] Yusei Fudo, the 17 year-old main protagonist, has "Stardust Dragon" as his main card, which is the cover card for the Duelist Genesis trading card set.

As with the previous two series (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX), this series has been acquired by 4Kids Entertainment for broadcasting in the United States in September 2008.^[2] It began airing on The CW4Kids, starting from September 13, 2008. The English language dub premiered on July 24 at San Diego Comic-Con 2008,^[3] where the first English dubbed episode was previewed. Like the previous two series, changes have been made to the plot, cards, localized character names. On June 1, 2009, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's started airing 5 days a week on Cartoon Network.^[4][5] A manga based on the show began serialization in V-Jump Monthly Magazine from August 2009.

Plot

Main article: List of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's takes place decades after the events of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Unlike GX, however, as it takes place in the distant future, and almost all of the cards used are brand new.

The game of Duel Monsters has changed; a new addition has been introduced to the future of dueling as seen in 5D's: "Turbo Duels". These duels are played in giant stadiums, and duelists ride motorcycles with built-in duel equipment known as "Duel Runners" ("D-Wheels" in the original Japanese version). Domino City has also changed, under the guidance of the head of its Public Security Maintenance Bureau, Rex Goodwin. Rich and powerful people live in what is now known as New Domino City ("Neo Domino City" in the Japanese version), while the poorer class are shunned and live mostly in the slums area, known as "The Satellite". They are referred to as "Satellite slime," by the inhabitants of New Domino City. An aspiring duelist from Satellite, Yusei Fudo, builds his own Duel Runner, but is betrayed by his best friend, Jack Atlas, who steals his Duel Runner and his most precious monster, the Stardust Dragon. He does this by tying his and Yusei's friend Rally on a raft and making Yusei choose between stopping him or saving Rally from drowning.

The Crimson Dragon, as seen during Yusei and Jack's Turbo Duel.

Two years later, Yusei has built another Duel Runner, and sets out to win back his Dragon. Jack, now known as the Duel King (King of the Riding Duel in the Japanese version), has made a name for himself and his monster, the Red Dragon Archfiend (Red Demon's Dragon in the Japanese version), in New Domino City. Yusei and Jack face each other in a Turbo Duel, and during the duel Yusei is able to regain control of Stardust Dragon. As Stardust and Red Dragon Archfiend battle, a third dragon appears and brings an abrupt end to the fight. This attracts the attention of Rex Goodwin, who reveals to Jack a thousand year old secret, involving the "People of the Stars" (星の民, Hoshi no Tami^?), a pre-Incan civilization, the "Crimson Dragon" (赤き竜, Akaki Ryū^?), and "Signers" (シグナー, Shigunā^?). He also reveals to Jack that him, along with Yusei are descendants of them and are destined to face the Dark Signers. Yusei, along with Jack Atlas, Akiza Izinski (Aki Izayoi in the Japanese version), and Luna (Luca in the Japanese version) head to the Satellite to face these foes, with the help of Yusei and Jack's childhood friend Crow Hogan, who becomes the fifth Signer, and Luna's brother Leo (Lua in the Japanese version).

After the Dark Signers' defeat, New Domino City and Satellite are finally reunited into one prosperous city with the building of the "Daedalus Bridge" an intricate net of roads linking both communities with some sections also used for Turbo Duels. Yusei and his friends get ready for the upcoming WRGP tournament, whilst facing off against a new threat with the arrival of Jakob, Lester, and Primo, the "Three Emperors of Yliaster", whose main monsters, the "Machine Emperors", can absorb Synchro Monsters from their opponents, to empower themselves. During this time, Yusei encounters a mysterious man who teaches him about the secrets of Accel Synchro, that allows him to bring new powers to his Stardust Dragon, a super mechanic named Bruno, who had lost his memory, and joined Yusei's team. They are also joined by a girl named Sherry Le Blanc, who is investigating Yliaster who are reportedly responsible for her parents' deaths. Yusei also goes to a place called Crash Town to save his friend and former Dark Signer, Kalin, and Jack confronts a sealed ancient Earthbound Immortal, Scar-Red Nova, whose powers he absorbs, with the help of the Crimson Dragon, to further enhance his Red Dragon Archfiend, creating Red Nova Dragon. The WRGP soon begins, with Yusei and friends, now called "Team 5D's" are up facing against tough opponents before eventually confronting the emperors themselves who are revealed to be three different incarnations of Aporia, a cyborg sent from the future to destroy New Domino City, in order to prevent a great calamity from befalling upon mankind in the future.

Although Yusei and co. defeat Aporia and win the WRGP, a massive citadel known as the Ark Cradle appears and threatens to crash into New Domino City, so Team 5D's climb aboard it in order to stop it. Before reaching the core of the fortress, they confront Sherry, who was promised to have her parents returned to her, Bruno, who recovered his memories and was revealed to be Antimony, another member of Yliaster, and have another clash with Aporia, where Leo awakens his dormant powers and becomes the sixth and final Signer. When the signers finally come face to face with Z-one, Yliaster's supreme leader, Yusei borrows his friends' dragons, adding them to his deck, and challenges Z-one to a final duel, to decide New Domino City's future. During the duel, Z-one is revealed to be a scientist from the future, who assumed Yusei's identity, and traveled back in time to prevent the destruction of humanity. Battling against all odds, Yusei manages to use his friends' cards to summon his most powerful monster ever, "Shooting Quasar Dragon." After Z-one is defeated by Yusei, Z-one decides to entrust the future of mankind to Yusei, and sacrifices himself to save New Domino City from destruction.

A few years passes after the Signer's victory over Yliaster, and the former members of Team 5D's move on with their lives following separate paths. But not before Jack and Yusei put all their skills into one more duel, to settle their rivalry once and for all, which Yusei wins. They then part ways, except for Yusei, who decides to stay, but then the other Signers decide that after fulfulling their dreams, they will return to New Domino City. After that, they ride together one last time, and then, the Crimson Dragon has their Signer marks removed from them, as their mission as Signers was accomplished.

Yusei Fudo, the series' main protagonist.

Synchro Monsters

A prominent new feature of the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's series is the use of "Tuner Monsters" and normal monsters to summon "Synchro Monsters". These new cards also update the rules of the Trading Card Game, renaming the Fusion Deck as the Extra Deck.

A Synchro Monster is sort of like a Fusion Monster with Ritual Monster summoning properties combined. It needs material monsters just like Fusion Monsters, and they have the summoning properties of a Ritual Monster of having the same amount of stars required to summon the Synchro Monster, only Ritual Monsters can have of equal star value or more in their case.

A "Synchro Summon" is activated when a player summons a Tuner Monster and tunes it with one or more non-tuner monsters on the field. Based on the sum of the levels of each monster, a Synchro Monster of that level can be Special Summoned from the Extra Deck. For example, when a Level 3 Junk Synchron tunes itself with a Level 2 Speed Warrior, the Level 5 Junk Warrior can be summoned. These monsters can also be tuned once again in order to summon higher level Synchro Monsters such as the Level 8 Stardust Dragon. These monsters may also contain additional attributes, based on the monsters that were used as materials for the summon.

In "Earthbound Immortals" (Season 2), there are "Dark Synchro Monsters" that can only be Synchro Summoned, by subtracting the level of a non-tuner monster with a "Dark Tuner Monster", thus creating a negative Level. For example, a Level 8 Dark Tuner Monster can be tuned with a Level 3 Monster, to summon a Level -5 Dark Synchro Monster. Dark Synchro and Dark Tuner cards are exclusive to the anime, though can be used in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4 and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 5. Dark Synchro Monsters featured in the anime were later released as regular Synchro Monsters.

The third season introduces two variations of Synchro Summoning: "Accel Synchro", in which a Synchro Tuner monster can be tuned with another Synchro monster, even during an opponent's turn; and "Double Tuning", in which certain Synchro Monsters require two Tuner monsters to Synchro Summon instead of one. There is also "Delta Accel Synchro", which uses three Synchro monsters instead of just two, and Yusei manages to push it further to attain a "Limit Over Accel Synchro", using five Synchro monsters in the process.

Duel Runner

As well as the normal standing duels, the latest Yu-Gi-Oh! series features the "Turbo Duels" ("Riding Duels" in Japanese version), an all-new style of duel in which the players ride "Duel Runners" ("D-Wheels" in Japanese version), motorcycles with Duel equipment. Compared to the previous series, dueling with Runners contain some special rules. First, the duel is entirely played using the field spell "Speed World", which is activated by both players when the duel begins; it is possible to force a duel with someone on a Duel Runner by playing the card (a tactic generally used by Security when pursuing someone). Second, only spell cards designed to work into this field, known as Speed Spells, are allowed in the duel. Each spell needs a number of "Speed Counters" to be activated. Each duelist starts with zero Speed Counters and its number increase by one in each standby phase (there are two of these in one turn), up to a maximum of 12. The number of speed counters also affects the actual speed of the Duel Runner. A player's Speed Counters are reduced by one for every 1000 points of damage done to their Life Points. In the third season, Turbo Duels use an upgraded version of Speed World, called Speed World 2. On top of using Speed Spells, Speed Counters can be traded in for effects such as damaging the opponent or drawing an extra card. Also, counters are no longer lost when taking damage. New Domino City has built specific lanes dedicated to Turbo Duels, that separate themselves from the regular traffic when a duel is activated. The duel is called off if the lanes become damaged. When a winner is decided, the Duel Runner of the defeated duelist shuts down automatically. In the manga, Speed World and Speed Spells are not used.

The Duel Runner features the card platform, sitting in front of the duelist, a stand for the cards in hand, which allows the duelist to ride with one hand while using the cards with the other, and a compartment for the deck located in the player's wrist. Cards sent to graveyard are inserted in a slot also located in front of the duelist. In some Duel Runner models (called hybrid models), the card platform can be detached from the bike and function as a standard Duel Disk for old-fashioned duels. An example of a hybrid model is Yusei's red Duel Runner. Other models such as Crow's Blackbird have been modified to include different formations such as a flight mode. Normally, Turbo Duels are played with the Duel Runners on auto-pilot, though more recent instances, such as Shadow Duels and tournaments, have players drive manually. In the third season, Leo and Luna use Duel Boards, Energy powered skate-boards that connect to their Duel Disks and allow them to Turbo Duel. Unlike normal Duel Runners which automatically have Speed World and Speed World 2 integrated, they must insert the raw card into their Field Spell Card Zone. Because of how the Duel Board is designed, it is significantly slower than the motorcycle based Duel Runner.

In the Japanese version, previews for an episode where a Turbo Duel would take place often end with the phrase, "Riding Duel, Acceleration!" This phrase is also often used at the beginning of a Turbo Duel in the third season onwards.

Media

Anime

Main article: List of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episodes

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's aired on TV Tokyo between April 2, 2008 and March 30, 2011, following the end of the previous series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. As with the previous two series (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX), this series was acquired by 4Kids Entertainment for broadcasting and began airing in the United States in September 2008. ^[2] Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's began airing on The CW4Kids, starting on September 13, 2008, and was later moved to Cartoon Network. On May 29, 2010, the series once again began airing in 1-hour episode blocks on The CW4Kids. The series moved over to the Toonzai block from September 18, 2010. The dubbed series ended on September 10, 2011, leaving out several episodes from the Japanese broadcast. Because of this, this is the second Yu-Gi-Oh! series not to have a complete English dub (the first is Yu-Gi-Oh! GX). Like the previous two series, changes have been made to the plot and cards, character names have been localized, and violent scenes have been edited.

As 4Kids Entertainment also owns the international distribution rights to the show outside of Asia, the edited American version was then provided to most of the other countries of the world, including most of the countries of Latin America and Europe. The voices were dubbed into the corresponding languages of the various countries, but with the pre-existing edits of the American version, including all edits made to the visuals, the sound effects, and the music. The scripts were also adapted from the revised English scripts, most likely as a way of maintaining consistency with the edited footage.^{[citation needed]} In Germany, however, the dub stopped using the 4Kids version and began adapting the show directly from Japan from episode 65 onward for unknown reasons. While the original voice cast from the first 64 episodes was still used, the show no longer edited quite as much, used the original music (including the original Japanese opening and ending themes), and adapted their scripts directly from the original Japanese scripts rather than from the revised English scripts.^{[citation needed]}

On September 22, 2010, subtitled episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's began uploading to Toonzaki and Hulu, along with the dubbed episodes.^[6][7] These episodes use the English names for the cards instead of the Japanese names. In an Anime News Network interview with Mark Kirk, Senior Vice President of Digital Media for 4Kids Entertainment, Kirk claimed this was due to legal reasons.^[8] It was stated on their Facebook page that new episodes will air every Monday and Thursday.

Manga

A manga series based on the show written by Satou Masashi began serialization in V-Jump Monthly Magazine from August 2009. Like the manga adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the adaptation features an original storyline, different monsters, and various differences from the anime version. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for North America.^[9]

Video games

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (video games)

There are several video games developed by Konami based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's franchise.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Wheelie Breakers is a racing game for the Wii console in which players can use cards to lower other people's life points and overtake them. Unlike the card game, monsters use Speed Counters in order to attack their opponents, and players don't lose if their life points hits zero, rather they spin out before they can continue racing. Characters ride in Duel Runners, whilst those without them use holographic versions. The Promotional cards are Skull Flame, Burning Skull Head and Supersonic Skull Flame. The game was released in Japan on March 26, 2009, North America on May 19, 2009 and Europe on September 18, 2009.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator for the Nintendo DS is more representative of the trading card game, continuing the World Championship series of games. The game uses World Championship 2009 software, and also features a story mode, in which a duelist tries to get his memory back, though it more or less follows a similar plot to the first season. The Promotional Cards are Infernity Archfiend, Infernity Dwarf and Infernity Guardian. The game was released in Japan on March 26, 2009, Europe on May 15, 2009 and North America on May 19, 2009.^[10] Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Reverse of Arcadia, also for the Nintendo DS, is also part of the World Championship series. Set during the Dark Signers arc, the player controls a former member of the Enforcers who has been brainwashed by the Arcadia movement. The promotional cards are Stygian Security, Samurai Sword Baron and Stygian Sergeants. It was released in Japan on February 18, 2010, North America on February 23, 2010 and Europe on March 26, 2010. Another game, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus, was released on Japan on February 24, 2011, and in North America on May 10, 2011. The game will feature over 4,200 cards, and a Puzzle Editor.^[11]

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4, for the PSP system, is the fourth game in the Tag Force series, the previous games being based on Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. The game also features the Dark Synchro and Dark Tuner monsters from the 2nd season of the anime. The game was released on September 17, 2009 in Japan^[12] and in North America and Europe in November 2009. The Promotional Cards are Warm Worm, Worm Bait, and Regret Reborn.^[13] This was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 5, set during the third season of the anime, released in Japan on September 16, 2010 and in North America on October 26, 2010.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Decade Duels was released on Xbox Live Arcade on November 3, 2010.^[14][15] The game features online leaderboards and voice chat functionality, as well as the ability to buy extra cards via Xbox Live Marketplace.^[16]

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Duel Transer (known as Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Master of the Cards in Europe) for the Wii system features over 4,500 cards and Wi-Fi multiplayer. The game was released in North America on December 7, 2010 with the promotional cards; Fighter Ape, Closed Forest and Roaring Earth. It was released in Japan on April 21, 2011 with a Duel Scanner accessory which allows players to scan their real world cards into the game.^[17]

Opening & ending themes

Japanese

Opening themes

1. "Kizuna" (絆-キズナ-^?, "Bonds") by Kra (Episodes 1-26)
2. "LAST TRAIN -Atarashii Asa- (LAST TRAIN -新しい朝-^?, Last Train (New Morning)) by Knotlamp (Episode 27-64)
3. "FREEDOM" by La Vie (Episodes 65-103)
4. "BELIEVE IN NEXUS" by Masaaki Endoh (Episodes 104-129)
5. "Asu He no Michi - Going My Way!!" (明日への道〜Going my way!!〜^?, Road to Tomorrow ~Going My Way!!~) by Masaaki Endoh (Episodes 130-154)

Ending themes

1. "START" by Masataka Nakagauchi (Episodes 1-26)
2. "CROSS GAME" by Alice Nine (Episodes 27-64)
3. "-OZONE-" by Vistlip (Episodes 65-103)
4. "Close to You" by Alvino ~Alchemy vision normal~ (Episodes 104-129)
5. "Mirai Iro" (みらいいろ^?, "Future Colors") by Plastic Tree (Episodes 130-154)

Insert songs

1. "You say... Asu e" (You say…明日へ, Yūsei... Asu e^?, "You say... To Tomorow") by La Vie (Episodes 72, 90, 92)
2. "Clear Mind" by Masaaki Endoh (Episodes 109, 110, 121, 129, 134, 154)
3. "YAKUSOKU NO MELODY" ("The Melody of Promises") by Masaaki Endoh (Episode 154)

English

4Kids held a poll on its website allowing viewers to vote for their favorite out of several potential theme songs for the dub. At certain intervals, songs were eliminated from the competition. In the end, Hyper Drive received the most votes.

• "Hyper Drive" (All episodes)

Germany

1. "Hyper Drive" (German-dubbed version, Episodes 1-64)
2. "Freedom" by La Vie (Episodes 65-103)
3. "Believe in NEXUS" by Masaaki Endoh (Episodes 104-129)
4. "Asu He no Michi - Going My Way!!" (明日への道〜Going my way!!〜^?, Road to Tomorrow ~Going My Way!!~) by Masaaki Endoh (Episodes 130-154)

Title misinterpretation

Though "5D's" stands for "5 Dragons", it has been incorrectly quoted as standing for "5 Duel Scoop" by 4Kids. V-Jump magazine printed a feature in its "Yu-Gi-Oh! Ōkoku" (Yu-Gi-Oh! Kingdom) series in which "5DS" (without the apostrophe) was labeled as "5 Duel Scoop," with "scoop" referring to the information within the feature itself. Merchandise, television commercials, the logo itself, and other references all state the name as "Faibu Diizu". ICv2 News also has the name "5 Duel Scoop" incorrectly listed in its 4Kids article.^[2] In the 4Kids version, 5D's stands for 5 Dimensions, and is labeled when televised in the UK as such. The real meaning of the title is revealed when the signers and their friends take part in the World Racing Grand Prix (WRGP) as "Team 5D's", in allusion to the five marks of the Crimson Dragon that they possess.

Reception

Carlo Santos of Anime News Network gave Volume 1 of the English Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's manga a "D-".^[18]

References

1. ^ Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Game Anime Sequel Confirmed - Anime News Network
2. ^ ^{a b c} ICv2 News - 4Kids to Launch 'Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's'
3. ^ Comic-Con 2008 :: Programming for Thursday, July 24
4. ^ 4Kids Entertainment Reports 2009 First Quarter Results
5. ^ http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/xmlServices/ScheduleServices?methodName=mainSchedule
6. ^ http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4989537&fbid=441907094547&id=373641529547&ref=nf
7. ^ http://www.hulu.com/yu-gi-oh-5ds
8. ^ "Kirk Up Your Ears". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2010-07-22. 
9. ^ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-04/viz-media-confirms-yu-gi-oh-5d-manga-license
10. ^ http://kotaku.com/5160711/nintendos-120-game-line+up-punch-out-excitebots-dated
11. ^ http://www.godisageek.com/2011/01/yu-gi-oh-5d%E2%80%99s-world-championship-2011-nexus/
12. ^ V Jump October 2009 issue p.159-166, The Newest Tag Duel Bible p.01
13. ^ http://shriek.twoday.net/stories/5707065
14. ^ http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/yu-gi-oh-5ds-decade-duels/screenshots/g-20100409132651427096
15. ^ http://kotaku.com/5515990/in-case-you-missed-it-yu+gi+oh-is-coming-to-xbox-live-arcade
16. ^ http://www.konami.com/games/ygo5ddecade/
17. ^ V Jump October 2009 issue p.13-14, Yu-Gi-Oh-Koku World of Duelist p.14
18. ^ Santos, Carlo. "RIGHT TURN ONLY!! A Certain Motorcycling Duelist." Anime News Network. July 5, 2011. Retrieved on August 10, 2011.

External links

Anime and manga portal

• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S at TV Tokyo (Japanese)
• NASinc. (Japanese)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S Konami (Japanese)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's at 4Kids (English)