During a duel, he meets Astral who is a messenger from the Astral World. Thanks to Astral's help, Yuma is able to win the duel. Astral needs to collect the Numbers Xyz monster cards to restore his lost memories. Yuma helps him with this task. They work together to collect the Numbers cards and win duels.
The following are my thoughts about the first 46 episodes of this anime in no particular order:
Number 39: Utopia / Kibou Hope
I like this card, but I'm getting sick of how Yuma summons it all the time. It's like every other duel has to involve this card somehow, like he can't win without using Number 39: Utopia. I wish he would summon some other card instead.Seriously, doesn't he have another rank 4 Xyz monster to summon? Why does it always have to be either Kibou Hope, or its evolved form Number C39: Utopia Ray / Chaos Numbers 39: Kibou Hope Ray?
Numbers Xyz Monsters
Speaking of Numbers Xyz monsters, by now Yuma has already collected a lot of Numbers cards like Number 11: Big Eye, Number 61: Volcasaurus, Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, etc. So how come he doesn't use any of these cards? Why does he keep using Utopia? Also, why does he keep using rank 4 Xyz monsters?I wish Yuma and Astral would actually use the other Numbers Xyz cards at their disposal, particularly those that aren't rank 4. I want to see them use higher-ranked cards especially since I'm so sick of seeing them summon the usual rank 4 cards (*cough*KibouHope*cough*).
I think the duels would be more interesting if there was more variety to it and if Yuma and Astral put a bit more effort into it. For instance, their usual plan is just to spam level 4 monsters (For example: Gagaga Magician and Gogogo Golem) on the field then overlay them to Xyz summon Utopia. But what if they actually had to get out monsters that are level 5 or higher? Wouldn't that be much more interesting?
Besides one of Yuma's favorite cards (aside from Utopia) is Gagaga Magician, and this monster has a really cool effect which allows it to change its level from 1-8 each turn. I wish Yuma and Astral would actually use this card to its full potential. They could have used this card to help them Xyz summon higher-ranked Numbers monsters.
Astral
I like Astral. He can be pretty funny and amusing at times like when he doesn't understand how this world works, and he has to ask Yuma to explain things to him. Of course, Yuma isn't very good at explaining things, which just makes things funnier.I also like how he was actually scared of Kaito. This gave him more personality and made him more interesting because it shows that he's not perfect. But I wish he'd found a way to win without having to resort to a deus ex machina in the form of combining or fusing himself with Yuma and then doing a Shining Draw.
It's practically cheating, and it just made me root for Kaito instead because at least he didn't have to create a new card or do what Astral and Yuma did just to win (or force a tie, in this case).
Kotori Mizuki / Tori Meadows
I hate Kotori Mizuki. I find her annoying and useless. I think she's the most useless and unnecessary character in this series. She's just an extra who gets in the way and isn't needed for the plot.I don't think the show is going to lose anything if she wasn't around. Why does she need to be here anyway? Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal would have been much more interesting without her hanging around the main character all the time.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind there being more female characters in Zexal, but Kotori can hardly be considered one seeing as how she doesn't actually do anything. There's no depth or personality to her character.
Most of the time, she just stands there, watching Yuma duel. Take her away, and what does the show lose? Nothing. Because she's not necessary to the overall plot. She doesn't contribute to the plot in a meaningful way. If she's not there, the show can still go on. She's not even a duelist.
It seems like she only exists to cook and clean after the MC (main character) and be his love interest. But how old is Yuma anyway? Does he really need a love interest? Him being oblivious to the attentions of his admirers and those who have a crush on him, not to mention him looking like a little kid, just shows that he's not ready to be in a romantic relationship.
Another thing I hate about Kotori is how her entire world seems to revolve around Yuma. She doesn't have any dreams or aspirations or goals apart from wanting to be with Yuma. In fact, most of her dialog consists of her saying or screaming Yuma's name.
It's like she's literally nothing without a man in her life, which is just insulting. I really hope she gets better and improves in the coming episodes. By now, I think it's too much to ask for her to just not show up anymore.
Also, what is up with Tori's hair? It's so weird how it defies gravity. Like that time when Obomi, the cleaning robot, takes her ribbon, her hair stayed in the same bun shape. And why does she have to feature so heavily in the show's opening and ending songs? They're making her out to be some important character when the truth is she's just an annoying, useless extra who does absolutely nothing of importance.
Yuma Tsukumo
For the most part, Yuma Tsukumo is not that bad. He's a pretty okay main character. He's certainly way better than the useless Kotori. One of the things I like is how Yuma doesn't win all his duels.I like seeing him lose because it makes things more interesting. It's just not fun if the audience is expecting him to win all the time. I prefer characters who struggle. I want the characters to work hard for their victory because it makes their story much more compelling.
However, much as I like Yuma, there are times when I find myself hating him. For instance, there was that time when he says he doesn't understand why Shark (Ryoga Kamishiro / Reginald Kastle) wants to use dueling to get revenge. He comes across as self-righteous here because Shark already explained that he was doing this for his sister who was hurt because of IV (Quattro).
What if it was Yuma's sister (Kari / Akari Tsukumo) or a member of his family who had been hurt? What if he found himself in the same position as Shark? What would he have done then?
It's easy for him to say things like don't duel for revenge or to want people to just have fun while dueling because he's not going through the things they're experiencing. He hasn't been accused of cheating or been disqualified, his sister is fine and not dying or sick, etc.
The way Yuma sounds sometimes, it's like he wants his way of dueling to be the only way. He doesn't want others to use dueling to attain their goals (like revenge), and yet isn't he using dueling to attain his goals too (he wants to be a Duel Champion)? Besides, how is Yuma expecting Shark to resolve his issues with IV if he doesn't want the two to duel?
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| Ryoga Kamishiro and Kaito Tenjo are way more compelling and interesting than Yuma. Why couldn't they be the main characters instead? |
They seem to live in a world where dueling is common. Even the security systems make use of duels. Then there was that time when Kaito Tenjo's brother was kidnapped and to save him, Kite and Yuma had to duel III (Trey) and IV. This just goes to show that dueling is a big thing in this world, and that most things are resolved through dueling.
So Yuma showed just how much of a hypocrite and self-righteous fool he was by disapproving of Shark wanting to duel IV for revenge. What did he want Shark to do instead, kill IV or something?
Also, I don't like how he says he doesn't care about winning or losing duels. It doesn't sound believable at all, and it just makes him come across as a hypocrite. It's so easy for Yuma to say words like this because he doesn't lose. He ends up winning most of his duels, particularly the important ones. And he doesn't really lose anything even if he doesn't win.
If he were to lose something (like Astral and his Numbers cards), then he manages to win the duel or something happens so that he doesn't have to face the consequences of losing. For example, when Kite was about to defeat Yuma, his younger brother collapses and so he has to cancel the duel to go check on Hart.
Then there was that time when Yuma and Shark fought during the World Duel Carnival. If Yuma had lost this duel, he wouldn't have been able to advance to the finals, and he would have lost Astral and the Numbers, so it ended with Shark just letting Yuma go and not finishing the duel.
Speaking of duels, sometimes, I really hate how contrived some of these duels are, particularly the ones involving Yuma. It's like Yuma just has to be able to draw the right cards at the right time. It's come to the point where the duels have become rather predictable, where it usually ends with Yuma winning after being able to summon Utopia or Utopia Ray.
Then there was that time where Astral and Yuma actually fused together and ended up looking like one of the Super Saiyans from the Dragon Ball anime. I didn't care for that at all especially when they proceeded to do a Shining Draw. Wasn't that just blatant cheating? Not only were they able to get the right cards at just the right time, they also pretty much managed to get or create a card out of thin air. This is way too much deus ex machina.
I wish Yuma and Astral's duels could be a bit more natural. I want them to lose more often. I want to see them make more of an effort. I don't want them to be in a tight pinch only to get out of it all because they managed to create yet another card that didn't before exist in their deck. Let them have a hard time in a duel. Let the audience think they might actually lose.
Even if they don't end up losing, at least have them turn the tables on their own without having to resort to things like Shining Draw. Let them use their own wits during duels. Let them rely on their cards, on the ones they currently have. Don't give them new ones as the plot demands, at least not during a duel.
When things like Shining Draw happen, I end up rooting for their opponents to win, so I was really glad when Kite managed to end their duel in a draw instead. I found him much more impressive in that duel when compared to both Astral and Yuma because at least Kite dueled with his own strength.
He didn't have to resort to what basically amounts to cheating just to win. I wish Yuma would duel like the other characters in the show without having to resort to creating new cards and using Shining Draw. Wouldn't his victory be much more satisfying then?
Kite / Kaito Tenjo and Ryoga Kamishiro / Reginald Kastle (Shark)
I like Kaito and Ryoga (#ad) way more than I like Yuma and even Astral. I just find them both much more compelling, so much so that I wish either of them had been the main character instead. They come across as real because they're not perfect. They act like actual humans who have reasons for doing the things they do. For example, Kite is collecting the Numbers cards for his brother.As for Yuma, he comes across as too perfect and too pure sometimes, especially with how the Numbers cards don't affect him. But wouldn't it have been more interesting to have Yuma be affected by the Numbers in much the same way that Shark had been influenced by them? Shark was able to overcome the control the Numbers had over him.
I wish something like that had happened with Yuma too. It would have been more believable too. After all, the Numbers are said to be able to possess the ones who have them and bring out their darkest desires. Why shouldn't Yuma have a dark desire too? He's supposed to be human, not some perfect Mary Sue / Gary Stu.
I also like how Kaito is such a caring, protective, and loving big brother to his little brother Hart / Haruto Tenjo. Definitely nothing at all like Marvel's Thor who is arrogant, entitled, and couldn't seem to care less about his younger brother if he tried. He likes to call Loki his brother, but has no qualms telling others he's adopted.
And for someone who claims to have missed and mourned Loki, Thor couldn't even be bothered to spare a few minutes asking his brother if he's all right and what's going on or what happened to him when he fell off the Bifrost Bridge. No, instead Thor just grabs Loki by the neck and hurls them both out of a flying plane.
In effect, this basically boils down to Thor liking to say that Loki is his brother, but he doesn't act like it at all. He acts more like a bully. I'm really glad Kite is nothing like that especially considering how Haruto appears to be so much younger than him.
I like seeing them interact because you can really see that they care about each other. Kaito is collecting the Numbers cards for his brother's sake. He himself says that he sold his soul to the devil for his brother who is sick.
That scene where Kite gives his brother caramel was also quite touching. Then there are scenes where Kite can be seen desperately trying to protect and get to his brother, which really shows how much he cares about Hart.
It's no wonder then that Haruto returns the sentiment and even gives the remainder of his powers to his big brother, so Kaito can win the duel against III and IV by being able to summon Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Well, it is a bit contrived, but at least there was no Shining Draw involved, and he didn't end up fusing with anyone.
Also, at least there was a good and believable reason why this happened. It was already established that the brothers care about each other, so it made sense that Haruto would want to give his powers to his brother to help him.
Plus, so far (haven't gotten to watch the rest of the series yet), this seems to be the only time Kite ended up with a card that was created from out of nowhere unlike with Yuma and Astral who seem to get new cards every time they're in a pinch.
Nistro / Gauche vs Nelson Andrews / Fuya Okudaira (Sparrow / ESPer Robin)
Because of the way Yuma and Astral duel as mentioned above, sometimes, I prefer to watch duels that don't involve them. These duels are much more interesting, not to mention less contrived, because you can see the characters trying to win using their own strength and wits without outside influence. There's no deus ex machina that will ensure they win.A good example of this is the duel between Gauche and Robin. I found this one particularly exciting. You can see how good both characters are with the monsters they've been able to summon and how they're able to counter each other's plays.
This duel also came across as more natural because no card got created out of nowhere and there was no Shining Draw to influence the match. It was just two characters dueling and doing their best.
Why couldn't Yuma win like how Gauche managed to win in this duel? Gauche was in a pinch too, but he was able to turn the tables in a way that didn't come across as a deus ex machina. I want to see Yuma in such a situation and then see him and Astral try to figure out how to win without resorting to cheating.
Hair
This gets a section of its own because the hair in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is truly ridiculous and crazy. I already talked about Kotori's hair, but, really, hers is nothing compared to the others. For instance, let's take a closer look at the Tsukumo family. Yuma and Akari's hair look a bit similar, and they even have the same color (or at least part of Yuma's hair seems to share the same shade as his sister's).But what about their parents? Kazuma Tsukumo and Mira / Mirai Tsukumo look nothing like their children. Where did their kids inherit their hair from then? Even their grandmother Haru Tsukumo's hair looks so different from theirs.
Then there's III, IV, and V who are apparently brothers (at least, III refers to IV and V as Brother), but the three of them look nothing alike. It's not just their hair. It's their entire appearance. Are they actually related, or are they just calling each other brother because they're close? Have they been adopted into the same family or something?
Also, what's with the multi-colored hair that some of the characters have? Yuma's a prime example. But there's also Kite's hair. Is that green thing on his head part of his hair? Why is it green? Why couldn't it just be the same color as the rest of his hair? And what about Haruto?
Without knowing anything about this anime, I never would have guessed that Kite and Hart are supposed to be siblings because they look nothing alike. But I guess the difference in their hair color could be explained by saying that Haruto's sickness caused his hair to turn out like this. Still doesn't explain how Kaito has those green things on his hair though.
Then there's Shark. His hair looks normal compared to the hair styles and colors of the other characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, but what is that silver or light blue crown thing on his head? Is that part of his hair, or is that some sort of accessory? If it's part of his hair, then why couldn't it just be the same color as the rest of his hair? Really, none of this seems to make sense. It's all so strange, isn't it? I mean, I'm all for characters having different hair colors and styles.
Even the multi-colored hair thing doesn't bother me. But can't characters who are supposed to be related to each other at least share the same hair color or show a bit more resemblance to indicate they belong to the same family? What do you think about the hair styles and colors in this series?
Music
I love the music in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. The opening and ending theme songs are amazing, not just in terms of the sounds or music, but also the lyrics. So far, I've seen two OPs and two EDs.- Masterpiece by mihimaru GT - the first opening song
- BRAVING! by KANAN - the second opening song
- My Quest by Golden Bomber - the first ending song
- Longing Freesia by DaizyStripper - the second ending song
Miscellaneous
- I like the way Kaito says, "Hametsu no Photon Stream (Photon Stream of Destruction)"
- I like the gratuitous English in this show
- Why did the dub change the names of the characters? Is it because they're trying to Americanize things? But they didn't change the names of all the characters (Yuma is still Yuma), and some of the changed names don't really seem to be American (Nistro). Is it because it's hard to pronounce some of the names or something?
- I'd like to see Yuma lose and really face the consequences of this loss. Maybe he could lose the Numbers cards he and Astral have already obtained, and he has to duel and win to get them back. I wish he didn't have to lose Astral if he lost a Numbers duel, so there could have been more opportunities for Yuma's growth and development as a character
- I hate the character of Flip Turner / Tokunosuke Omoteura. I think Yuma should have called him out on how he cheated to try to get into the World Duel Carnival finals.
It would have made sense since Yuma is the one who seems to consider dueling sacred and wants people to just have fun while dueling without having to think about winning or losing. Yuma comes across as a hypocrite here for not even telling off Flip and getting mad at him for daring to cheat.
- I think Gauche was going too far in wanting to beat up Tokunosuke, but it was fair to want to disqualify him and ban him from competing because he did cheat and he was caught cheating
- I find the characters of Droite / Dextra and Gauche interesting. I want to find out more about them. The same can be said for III, IV, V (Quinton), and Tron (Vetrix)
- I thought the revelation that Shark cheated didn't seem very believable. I mean, it's not like he was shown rifling through IV's deck. He just happened to see the cards because they were left lying around there unattended. It seems like anyone else could have seen those cards. Also, the only card he seems to have recognized and remembered was Mirror Force.
This trap card is one of the most well-known and powerful cards in the game (it can destroy all of your opponent's attack position monsters), so isn't it natural to expect that this card would be in someone's deck?
Regardless of that, wasn't it only natural for Ryoga to be wary of his opponent's face-down cards even without knowing what those cards might be? If you see a card in an opponent's spell or trap card zone, doesn't that call for caution? In conclusion, they should have tried harder to make the whole Shark cheating thing believable.
- In the very first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, we see this mysterious door. There's a mysterious voice talking about receiving power in exchange for losing something important. This shows up again in the episode where Yuma and Astral end up fusing and doing the Shining Draw. They also get a new card.
I really hope there is way more to this than just a way to give the main characters new powers as the plot demands. I don't want this to be just yet another deus ex machina.
I want to see them face the consequences of getting this power. I want to see them actually lose something important in exchange for this power. If they're not really going to lose anything, then the entire thing falls flat. Like, what's the point of saying they'll lose something when they're not really going to lose anything?
It would be much more interesting to see Yuma suffer from losing something important to him, and yet he still struggles and does his best anyway. Wouldn't that be more compelling as opposed to making things way too easy for him by giving him all this power without having to face the consequences of using said power?
I also hope Astral's memories or the missing Numbers cards isn't the something important the voice was talking about. Because this doesn't really seem like a loss. Yes, it's too bad that Astral has amnesia, but he and Yuma have already started collecting the pieces of his memories and they're making a lot of progress towards this goal.
Plus, Astral doesn't really seem all that affected by his memory loss. I mean, he's still able to function well enough. He doesn't seem to be dying unless they're in danger of losing a Numbers duel, which is never going to happen because they're not allowed to lose those kinds of duels no matter what (*roll*eyes*).
Share your thoughts and opinions
So, what about you? What do you think about all this?*Notes:
- Pics are from Amazon.com; links shown above
