I remember reading a long time ago that Yugioh's author was one of the richest guys in Japan, since it's basically like Pokemon for slightly older guys and a license to print money. So you'd expect something this mainstream to fit all the standard cliche and stuff, but it really doesn't. Well of course there's the friendship and stuff, but Yugioh violates one of the fundamental principles of Anime/Manga. Just about every Anime/Manga out there tends to be about heroes who are doing things way better than you can possibly do, whether it's ninjitsu, solving crime, magic, tennis, cooking, or throwing fireballs.
But Yugioh isn't like that. If you have ever built a deck in Magic the Gathering you're going to be a living legend squared in the world of Yugioh. For example, let's say in MTG you have a 2/2 creature, and your opponent has a 1/1, and he attacks with the 1/1. Do you assume:
1. The guy probably has something like a giant growth or at least something that'd enable his 1/1 to beat your 2/2.
2. The guy was probably just crazy.
While most people in real life would go with #1, in Yugioh you'd go with #2. Half of the time it'd turn out the other guy really is crazy, and always act really surprised when the other guy whips out a giant growth the other 50% of the time.
Yet ironically I think that's what makes Yugioh good. It's because everyone in the game is ludriciously bad at the game they play that it is no longer possible to have any plot inconsistency. You don't have to wonder why doesn't Yugi just do X instead of Y and he'd win, because you already know he's a moron and so is everyone he's playing against. Kaiba decided to play blind instead of going by strategy against Pegasus, and I'd say playing blind was a more effective strategy than whatever he was doing regardless of who is opponent was. Whereas most manga, even stuff for kids, have to occasionally answer question regarding internal consistency, you don't need such things when you're in a world of morons.
In some sense Yugioh is like Saint Seiya, which is focused on fighting but death is so irrelevent you stopped caring if a guy who got killed 5 times just magically comes back to life without any explanation. It's just what they do, and once you realized death doesn't mean anything to the main characters, the story is surprisingly consistent. Every fight is a battle to the death, and the main characters probably really did all die 5 times a piece. It's just when the next fight starts they're magically not dead anymore.
But Yugioh isn't like that. If you have ever built a deck in Magic the Gathering you're going to be a living legend squared in the world of Yugioh. For example, let's say in MTG you have a 2/2 creature, and your opponent has a 1/1, and he attacks with the 1/1. Do you assume:
1. The guy probably has something like a giant growth or at least something that'd enable his 1/1 to beat your 2/2.
2. The guy was probably just crazy.
While most people in real life would go with #1, in Yugioh you'd go with #2. Half of the time it'd turn out the other guy really is crazy, and always act really surprised when the other guy whips out a giant growth the other 50% of the time.
Yet ironically I think that's what makes Yugioh good. It's because everyone in the game is ludriciously bad at the game they play that it is no longer possible to have any plot inconsistency. You don't have to wonder why doesn't Yugi just do X instead of Y and he'd win, because you already know he's a moron and so is everyone he's playing against. Kaiba decided to play blind instead of going by strategy against Pegasus, and I'd say playing blind was a more effective strategy than whatever he was doing regardless of who is opponent was. Whereas most manga, even stuff for kids, have to occasionally answer question regarding internal consistency, you don't need such things when you're in a world of morons.
In some sense Yugioh is like Saint Seiya, which is focused on fighting but death is so irrelevent you stopped caring if a guy who got killed 5 times just magically comes back to life without any explanation. It's just what they do, and once you realized death doesn't mean anything to the main characters, the story is surprisingly consistent. Every fight is a battle to the death, and the main characters probably really did all die 5 times a piece. It's just when the next fight starts they're magically not dead anymore.
