Yu-Gi-Oh!
Zexal: Season 1
(2011/Flatiron/Cinedigm DVD Box Set)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: C+
Get
ready to feel the flow, Yuma, a young dualist play his cards in
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Zexal. Yuma encounters Astral, a mysterious being
(which only he can see) who teaches him how to dual in exchange for
Yuma to help get his memories back by collecting the legendary number
cards. As he and his friends continue dueling, they discover their
'virtual reality' game is no mere game but another dimension and
maybe the key to finding Yuma's long lost father.
Yuma
is a headstrong, rash, impulsive and doesn't think before he acts,
but when he meets Astral he begins to learn (painfully slow) how to
think ahead and choose his cards carefully. He discovers how to
summon and fight with powerful legendary cards, each new card unlocks
one of Astral's lost memories and brings them a step closer to the
truth behind his long lost father. As Yuma plays he encounter new
friends and enemies, and as his deck grows with new cards, they
evolve to even stronger levels. Their true strength comes from the
power of teamwork and friendship which helps them overcome any dual.
This
was your typical animation promoting card game like Pokemon or
.hack. While similar to the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, the
original had more interesting story/characters with a kid possessed
by the spirit of a Pharaoh instead of typical kid with an artifact
left by his father. The game's pattern sometimes didn't make sense
in how many moves a person can make in a single turn, there were trap
cards protect against their enemies attack or leveling up the
character cards or using some super ability to beat the other
opponent. Each episode was about how the characters was one upping
each other and who ever could out smart or predict the others moves.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little on the soft side,
though some of that is the style of the art, while the lossy Dolby
Digital sound is passable if a little weak. There are no extras.
-
Ricky Chiang