Dark and interesting story spoiled by duel mechanics
I may be biased here, but I am a lover of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series. I loved the mechanics of duelling and the links to ancient Egypt. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX was OK, but I felt the story was a bit too light and lacklustre. After I saw the love that this series got, I felt I had to watch it.Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's is set in a dystopian city, with the "Satelline" (equivalent to a deprived region of a city) being the main setting for the story. The main protagonist, Jaden Yuki, is a great character and you really do get to understand his back story and motives. The other main characters in the series are equally as likable, albeit for different reasons. What I liked about this series is its dark nature and the story of someone rising from the slums through the means of duelling.
Now, on the subject of duelling...this is where I got a bit annoyed. The concept of speed duelling was introduced whereby everything the governs a normal duel was present, except duels are now conducted on super-fast motorbikes. Maybe its my age (I'm 25), but I just don't get it. Aside from the motorbikes being redundant to the concept of duelling, I felt it made duelling a restricted sport. In the era of the original series, duelling was something everyone could do. All you needed was a deck. Now, duelling is something only those with motorbikes could do. There were some standalone duels off the bikes, but it seems they were just not done anymore. I enjoyed the new format, but my rational brain just felt it unnecessary.
If you enjoyed the original series, this may be something worth watching. The characters are deep and interesting, and the story is great. Just don't be prepared for a rational explanation as to why duelling must now be performed while racing.
score 7/10
smetin 17 June 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3732749/15048
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