Ranking Every Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime by First Arc (Tier List)

[@JoeGamingA]

Describing arc v with "has a lot of potential" hits for a lot of emotional damage

[@faustoelorteguimiguez7643]

Yep I think Arc V is probably the worst waste of potencial in Yugioh. Either be the action duels, dimensional contraparts, legacy characters and side and secondary character. I cannot hate it as much as I feel sad and disappointment

[@JoeGamingA]

@fausto elortegui miguez it's probably my favorite just bc of how fun it was even if the end result was a shame. There were a few great parts that shined through despite its setbacks

[@ironphantom4912]

So what you're saying is, you still take the damage?

[@gldni17]

"Arc-V is the most simple Yu-Gi-Oh anime." Honey, you got a big storm coming...

[@bl00by_]

Yeah it becomes a huge mess...

[@yurisato8002]

When the 4 bois shows up...

[@SuperNeos2]

It got over bloated and complicated for all the wrong reasons. I was hooked into Arc-V for the first 52 episodes, staying up late with work the next day many times to binge watch. Crawled through the Synchro Arc and just checked out and read what happened after and was glad I didn’t waste my time. So disappointed with what happened

[@ravenfal1496]

I burst out laughing when he said that.

[@pn2294]

@@bl00by_ it always was a huge mess.

[@david95ms]

Tetsu: you're doing something illegal so I'm going to arrest you. Yusei: only if you beat me on a duel first. Tetsu: bet.

[@ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣΛΑΧΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ]

The duelist kingdom duels actually make a lot of sense if you consider them not as the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, but as a card extension of D&D. Which is how Takahashi wrote them

[@xbon1]

Prove it. The dnd stuff was bakuras game not duel monsters

[@damienthonk1506]

In my opinion the duels are still really frustrating since the cheap shit only really gets bad when Yugi is about to lose. Attacking... the moon? Really now?

[@corporatecommander4066]

No, the game was originally based on magic the gathering, you are thinking of Bakuras game

[@lionofash7700]

@@corporatecommander4066 I think an argument can be made though that Takahashi himself preferred dice based roleplaying over card games, which is why it leaked and seeped into the duelist kingdom arc when he didn't care much about making the game actually function with a rigid ruleset.

[@firewolf950tfwgaming7]

Takahashi if I remember correctly actually said he’s actually more of a Table Top RPG guy, hence why the final arc Millennium World was actually the death rpg by Bakura as opposed to a long running card game.

[@alexandrefrauches132]

Something I really like about 5ds first arc is how the characters dynamic are unique compare to the previous. Usually the protagonist and his supporting cast are friends or become that after their first meet (unless the character is the rival/anti-hero). In the case of 5ds most of the first arc the team is not together yet. In fact. with exception of Lua and Rua, most of them don't even get along nor want anything to do with each other. Both this arc and the following one gives proper time for the character to grow and develop their friendship, making the moment when they decide to join forces against the Dark Signers feel truly special.

[@nbassasin8092]

and it generally floats the best, feels the most "real" in terms of motives, emotions and behaviour of characters

[@alexandrefrauches132]

@@nbassasin8092 Yeah, plus allows the series to highlight each character rather than just the protagonist and show their development, something other seasons suffer, with the focus being given to the character and his rival.

[@nbassasin8092]

@@alexandrefrauches132 I am actually mad 5ds is a yugioh series, in a sense that its a kids show and they had to make it a bit more simple, while the concept could have been used so well in a more mature, meant for older audience manner

[@alexandrefrauches132]

@@nbassasin8092 True, however I don't see problem with this since Yugioh, despite being kids show touched in many mature themes and had some very dark stuff; It's not just about friendship, but also about growing up and becoming a more independent person, which is perfectly represent in the main series by Yugi and Pharaoh, with Yugi in the end having to defeata and say goodbye to the spirit, finally accepting that he doesn't need Pharaoh to be special or strong. He already is on his own.

[@cblazerc]

I think it's pretty much universal that Zexal's first arc isn't the best, outside of Kaito. Don't worry, it gets much, much better.

[@silentvoice6737]

yeah, it gets better after episode 73

[@StarSpeed1]

Barian onslaught arc and dark signers are the best

[@bigfish5544]

@@silentvoice6737 the duel carnival preliminaries was fine, the duel carnival finals was honestly fantastic, it's very underrated. How can anybody dislike Tron, the arclight brothers and the duels in this arc?

[@adaurysantos]

@Mario & Sonic Fan what plot holes?

[@syrus207]

@Mario & Sonic Fan what plot holes I'm really curious?

[@leonardoluiz7487]

The first 5Ds Arc ends way earlier then I remember. I was pretty sure it would go up to the end of the following arc, probably because the amount of episodes. Fortune cup only goes up to episode 26 while a lot of the others were a lot longer. And I have to say I am surprised 5DS made it so high with only the Fortune Cup arc.

[@ascendedvoid2715]

motorbikes rock.

[@EnclosedPoolArea]

Definitely shouldn't be.

[@johnnysummers9323]

It takes like 75 episodies to zexal get any good.

[@divineeternity7268]

5ds is the best

[@sneckie]

5Ds might not be the most mature Yugioh anime right away but it doesn't take long to get there. It tackles heavy topics like institutional poverty, classism, abusive policing, and more, and handles most of them pretty well.

[@lpfan4491]

I mean, MC literally breaks out of the slums to get back his stolen property from his buddy who betrayed him to get ontop of the classist game, then gets instantly jailed and marked for life because his mere existance as a functional member of the world he is in is considered illegal just because of where he grew up.

[@Killerqueen2000]

my thing is consistency. handles those topics the most consistently well. Vrains arc 1 def was great but overall not as good as handling characters

[@rich355]

As a Huge Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal fan, it was hard to see it go into D, but than again, I feel like Zexal is a series that you need to let sink in to appreciate, plus you've only watched the first arc so it makes sense

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

Yeah, Zexal is a very hard series to watch at first, mainly because Yuma is not exactly likable and also sucks at the game (at least at first, anyways). But in that sense, it's actually kind of similar to Tales of the Abyss in that regard, since the protagonist of that game also is extremely unlikable at the beginning, but is eventually able to develop in a major way, and I think it's precisely because of this that it's so satisfying to see what happens by the end

[@yu-vimatsumoto8033]

zexal is Least o my favorite yugioh because first you need to finish the whole series to enjoy it

[@rich355]

@@matthewkuscienko4616 I wouldn't call Yuma unlikable, but he is often seen as a downgrade following Yusei and Yu-Gi-Oh 5ds. I actually find the Yuma and Astral relationship better developed than it's original Yugi and Atem relationship. The main reason being is that Atem pretty much carries Yugi for most of the series with the exception of a few duels, we're told that Yugi is a good duelist, but he rarely ever duels on his own to where it's left a bit unsatisfying because we don't really see Yugi struggle in the same way as Atem. By comparison, we see Yuma develop from an atrocious duelist to a high level champion by the end of it.

[@rich355]

@@yu-vimatsumoto8033 in regards to Yuma, I would agree to some degree, but I would say the storylines of Shark, Kite and Vetrix's family help make up for some of the problems. I think Yuma gets a lot more likable around season 2.

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

@@rich355 I can't really disagree with that, but then again, what you said about Atem carrying Yugi throughout the vast majority of the series versus the way we get to see Yuma become better at the game with Astral's help to me personally shows that the writers did a better job fleshing the characters out as more series got produced. And while you may personally not find Yuma to be super unlikable at the beginning of Zexal, I do know that there are a lot of people who didn't really give Zexal a chance because of how annoyed they were with him at first, and part of me can't really blame them. It's for this reason why I made the Tales of the Abyss comparison: both Yuma and Luke start off being rather grating to put up with until they start to get their character development, and the story becomes much better later on because of how drastically they changed from the people they started as when we first encounter them in their respective stories

[@kylebiggles5973]

i find GX to be amazing and it took me watching it as an adult to appreciate it

[@nbassasin8092]

GX has one of the best first episodes of any show ever, especially as a sequel series, people just like to hate on it because they are biased towards og anime

[@coreyhall5065]

I hated GX as a kid, as an adult I went back and watched the sub. Omg it was night and day. GX is now my favorite. 4kids absolutely butchered the show and ruined a lot of cool themes it had going on and even left out the amazing final half. On top of that, as an adult, GX's theme's hit a lot harder

[@daosxion776]

it would be nice if we got a reboot of the original yugioh using Kazuki Takahashi's original plots since most people wouldn't know that season zero in the manga built directly into the standard duel monsters anime. The Death-T arc is why the gang aren't very keen on Kaiba in season 1

[@DarkEclipse23]

They’re never keen of Kaiba no matter what he does. If he does something selfish - jerk. If he saves someone’s life - jerk. If he refuses to give in to their demands - jerk. All in all the first main cast weren’t that great. Tristan and Tea were just cheerleaders. Joey was obnoxious. Yugi was a crybaby. They had no evolution as characters. I feel they better improved with the GX cast and then 5ds. I actually wanted them to succeed whereas I cheered everytime Joey either lost or lost horrifically. Although it could’ve just been the dub as they’re infamous for changing characters and their dialogue heavily. Atem is an exception because he’s the only one of the main cast - aside of Kaiba - to evolve and have an actual character. They both aren’t one note and are perfect concept of Yin yang.

[@silveratlas2706]

THANK YOU!! Vrains is so underrated. The first season gets a lot of hate for the recap episodes, but when it was airing the studio had major production issues and they had to change director by episode 13. They still succeded in crafting a pretty good arc tho,can't say the same for arc v's ending,which had the same struggles but turned out way worse.

[@alicepbg2042]

at least later arc-v had yuri. which is always a positive.

[@silveratlas2706]

@@alicepbg2042 yeah, Yuri was a really fun antagonist. The only thing I didn't like about him was the fact the ending made him so cooperative with the others even tho the last time we saw him he was trying to card everyone. But then again the ending was just a mess of different ideas that really didn't fit together or make any sense.

[@eclipsesans8273]

I don't want Yuri to be cooperative. "I lost... This must be what Yugo feels like everyday." Show me more of that, thanks.

[@mattjayce2339]

VRAINS is like a reverse Zexal. VRAINS starts off amazing but gets much worse in the later seasons. Zexal starts off awful but gets much better in the later seasons.

[@dabekes8931]

I will be real Yuto should've been the hero of arc-v this man had everything you want in a character the motivation the reasons and the ability to finess everyone in his way Yuya just had to be a bitch and ruin the show

[@bigfish5544]

What I have to say, is that: Vrains is actually very underrated, I'm glad you liked it. Even if the quality may falter a bit in the future, there will still be some incredible aspects you won't find anywhere else Zexal does get better, it really has a one way story and a lore no other shows have managed to rival, and the characters are nearly all treated well with interesting aspects to them And, oh boy, arc v is not simple. Not necessarily good, just... A mindf*uck

[@KevinTangYT]

I think it made not only the game super complicated and long, but also the plays in the show itself. It was the first series that characters essentially speedrun their turn and I had trouble following what was going on, even as a yugioh veteran

[@damienthonk1506]

@@KevinTangYT VRAINS, ZEXAL, or ARC-V?

[@lionofash7700]

@@damienthonk1506 IIRC some people criticise VRains... because it plays like the actual game irl, which is... super not entertaining and hard to fit in a 20 min episode.

[@KevinTangYT]

@@damienthonk1506 Vrains

[@arz563]

@@lionofash7700 in what way does it play like the actual game irl im curious

[@Eliwoodfan10]

Can't wait to see the rankings of each Arc's season 2.

[@MekBoooooi]

Imma say 5Ds first episode and tournament are so good

[@schwarzflammenkaiser2347]

It helps that it together with the original show had a linear story progression where the protagonist has a clear goal he wants to achieve and he the first season is basically him having most of his duells revolve around people trying to stop him from achieving that goal. Zexal , Arc V and GX start more with a monster of the week format and Vrains writing felt a little like the writers weren´t really sure how to proceed beyond basic story beats the first 30-50 episodes.

[@Lunacorva]

What's hilarious about Exodia from a card game perspective is that it's treated as this OP thing that needs to be nerfed, but honestly, just having the five pieces with no supporting strategy is... REALLY not viable or effective. Even for casual play.

[@yuutaruu4242]

DM actually has an episode about that with a rare hunter. It shows the negative side of playing 3 of everything Exodia without any strategy or support beyond drawing a card during DP and hoping to collect all the pieces asap.

[@nbassasin8092]

yeah but given the fact that there was no direct attack in that first season (or atleast based upon yugi/kaiba duel), that would make exodia much scarier than in irl yugioh

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

Zexal is all about building upon itself in 1 continuous story from start to finish (think of it like a 5 or 6 act play). So yeah, the first arc is kind of meh. Important, as nearly everything is brought back and expanded upon (even minor characters like Anna, Number 96, Roku, and Esper Robin become important later on). But by itself it's lackluster.

[@superm530]

If GO RUSH were done by Gallop, the primse would kick ass: An alien protagonist bent into ending conflict by using children car games, so ARC-V but potentially good.

[@fosphor8920]

Arc-V was good, not sure what you are talking about. Alien protagonist? Nah man, what a failure

[@lionofash7700]

@@fosphor8920 Arc V's finale was oof in writing consistency.

[@mikai4738]

​@@fosphor8920 Arc-V was really good in season 1. With the start of the Synchro arc it went down step by step and the last 10 episodes or so were dumb af. And how the heck is an alien protagonist a failure? We already had Astral as an alien partner for the main protag so why not an actual alien main protag for once?

[@fosphor8920]

@@mikai4738 i watched the 10 first of zexal and quit watching it cuz it was terrible. So your argument is lackluster haha every yugioh anime got ups and downs

[@superm530]

@@fosphor8920 Did you see all the anime? do you REALLY like the ending? About an alien protagonist: You have see dueling monkeys, card games on motorcycles, time travellers and interdimensional wars... Aliens seems a logical progression,

[@spi231]

Im not sure if you would call it the first arc, but I love Arc-V's first season. It sets things up perfectly, is really interesting, and is fun to watch. Everything past that goes down hill, but that first season in my opinion is really good.

[@diamonshade7484]

Yessir

[@dnaseb9214]

5Ds is easy S tier

[@mw2zorzest]

From my experience it seems like YuGiOh anime kind of go through a 3 part cycle: First anime in the cycle - relatively easy to get into, the main character is generally at least pretty new to dueling, makes mistakes and needs help from others to get through (Yugi had Atem, Yuma had Astral and his friends). Generally targeted towards kids and players who don't have much experience with the game. Second anime in the cycle - The character is generally a little more experienced and is going through the middle learning curve in learning special summoning or using basic combos, Like Jaiden using fusions or Yuya using Pendulum. Generally targeted to middle-schoolers and showing a little more complexity to the game, though nothing too in-depth. Third anime in the cycle - The main character is usually more mature, serious and the plot generally has some more complex real-world related details, such as poverty for 7Ds, given the main character and most of his friends coming from the slums. Generally targeted to high-schoolers and showing more complex combos and more interesting deck archetypes. While this isn't a perfect theory, there's something sprinkled in for a more adult audience usually that a child might not think is all that bad, like Mokuba being constantly kidnapped, also, considering Zexal 2 exists kind of outside the scope and at that point Yuma is better at dueling than in the first season where he sometimes played like he had never actually read his cards from time to time, I think it overall makes quite a bit of sense and Sevens seems to kind of carry on that cycle, though I've only watched a few episodes of that series and haven't seen go rush. I think it's a pretty good strategy for releasing shows, because the shows grow with the viewer as they go through school, getting more complex and leading into the viewer potentially getting into the physical game and (obviously) buying their products.

[@notmyfullname598]

have you seen season three of yu gi oh GX?

[@MMAddict39]

I feel like your opinions on Zexal will change drastically once you watch the whole thing, most of the Yugioh animes all have much better follow-up seasons to their initial ones and Zexal is the one that essentially has the biggest gap in quality from where it starts to where it ends.

[@pn2294]

To me the follow up seasons only matter because of the initial season

[@SouthSun89]

I’ll kinda agree with that. The big conflict arcs like the Duel Festival and Barion arc are honestly fantastic, but the preceding arcs that lead up to that are some of the worst arcs Yu-Gi-Oh has to offer. Zexal has the biggest leaps of quality of all the shows imo.

[@pn2294]

@@SouthSun89 ehh, I think that the following arcs only mattered BECAUSE of the preceding arcs

[@yuutaruu4242]

Except for VRAINS. 3rd>1st>2nd.

[@bigbangpegasusmaster]

I'd say Arc V has the biggest gap.........just that the other way around

[@soxwon04]

You touched on it briefly, but the one of the biggest flaws the original yugioh series had was abysmal pacing. Duels that could easily have been 1-2 episodes were stretched out into 3-5 episodes, and the problem got worse as the series went on. The duel v. Pegasus is painfully slow as the characters spend so much time repeating their motivation over and over again.

[@lpfan4491]

Yeah, it gets pretty bad.

[@silvertongue.242_99]

I like Yuma. The first arc of zexal is set up and teach the game to new players as Yuma gets better. Lot of character development and introductions, not so much of the plot happening only with number cards

[@Gozillazoro]

I like Yumo

[@sergeantassassin3425]

"Season 0 is the best." "Wtf, why?" "Cause Yami sets a dude on FUCKING FIRE, that's why!!"

[@davidtowers1863]

Gx Dub is peak yugioh. It's undeniably the best as an analogue for the game, thats why the slice of life works, the guys are just going on with their life, building decks, helping eachother out. Its so chill in the best way. The gag level dubbing really enhances that goofy school vibe

[@nbassasin8092]

also has one of the best, most feelgood first episodes of any show ever, and it does wonderful job of presenting the whole concept, something all first eps should do and yet most lack

[@lukapaunovic7943]

It's also the most real yugioh for me because like the original series didn't even have rules like tribute summoning and it was just random because rules didn't even exist back then but GX duels were amazing but not too bullshit like all the synchro XYZ Link Pendulum and all that garbage they have today, they still had fusion monsters which needed polymerization to summon and they had monster effects.

[@mohamedelhediissa289]

Alot of stuff in arc v gets answered later on Like the creation of pendulum

[@p.fish_63]

Gx was my favorite yugioh anime as a kid, my cousins were older than me and they watched the original on TV, so I was young when I started trying to play with them, I was the next generation of duelist

[@luciferneverchanges5841]

Jack: Show them your Junk! Yusei: What? Jack: Warrior!

[@RJV-s3l]

V-rains is definitely one of the best shows I’ve watched altogether. Beginning to end its amazing. Sad that you didn’t like Zexal. I thought the Number Monsters possessing people and having special abilities was really interesting.

[@Sad-Lesbian]

I agree on the first arc of Zexal. It's pretty bland and not a lot happens. Kaito IS amazing, and the scene of him whistling while walking through the time stopped rain is absolutely fantastic. But I do think Zexal is the series that gets better the more you watch it. The following 2 arcs are good, but not amazing. All of Zexal 2 is fucking amazing and my favourite Yugioh series by far.

[@nicoctane1669]

I could never get into 5Ds. Something about being on the motorcycles just killed it for me.

[@jayjin5530]

VRains by far has an amazing first arc like none other. It's grounded, serious, a lot shrouded in mystery, and so so engaging

[@undergroundvagos8481]

Really? The first arc of vrains sucked imo. But I'm happy I kept watching because I loved vrains after watching the full anime

[@jayjin5530]

@@undergroundvagos8481 VRains got more and more interesting as it went on since u learn more secrets and the plot thickens. Sure it's not the best arc of VRains but it's very good

[@omermohammad1336]

I am suprised he put Vrains first arc at S tier That arc was unwatchable for me the only charcter I found intersting was Specter all the other duels were unenjoyable and making it hard to move on in the show (I was stuck in the first arc since I completed ArcV and that was years ago and still couldn't finish the arc)

[@arz563]

@@jayjin5530 should I watch it? the characters seem so plain that i quit it very early on

[@jayjin5530]

@@arz563 the world building and plot is great and I like Playmaker and AI give it a shot

[@shadowedblight1673]

I like how the general consensus of Zexal is: "Nobody is really likeable...bisides kite, that dude's lit"

[@bl00by_]

That's at the beginning. The further you go the more good characters you find.

[@Honest_Mids_Masher]

Nah I liked shark way more. Kite's kinda overrated.

[@SUPPAcHERO]

If i remember correctly, Vrains has a lot of recap episodes. I would've give it B tier just for that.

[@damienthonk1506]

Those were production issues and there's only 2 in the first arc. It's not like the writers had a whole lotta say on that 🤷‍♂️ plus you can just skip them now. No harm done

[@yuutaruu4242]

Only for the first arc. After that, no problem.

[@galactichand551]

Duelist Kingdom is complete doody. Yugioh-GX is A+ 💕

[@thecowboyofoklahoma5866]

The DK arc took card names to mean their effects, quite literally. And any card on the field was fair game to be attacked or affected by another card and not just of a specific type. (Monster/spell/trap)

[@thecowboyofoklahoma5866]

Rush duels was a simplified speed duel setup. Smaller field, simpler rules, easier gameplay.

[@Nocturnal9720]

I honestly really liked Vrains and Arc-v's first arcs, they both felt like they understood how the game was moving forward and added that to the duels, almost every duel is fun or interesting using really cool or powerful cards that we would actually run in competitive decks. It was never the same in dm or GX, for synchro's there were some niche cases but mainly the synchro monster themselves. I'd say they both deserve to be A soley because arc-V's duel choreography and Vrains well, because of the same reasons you mentioned

[@Baroxshitposter665]

"Duelist Kingdom" Is the BEST Yu-Gi-Oh arc ever made You can't change my mind

[@ImMataza]

Cant wait for the complete list (:

[@Coolgamer..]

For me Yu-gi-oh Vrains is decent. Have lots of problems for me like Playmaker being a gary sue and Blue Angel and Go are wasted, in my opinion.

[@starbound100]

playmaker is not really a Gary Stu, because he DOES have character flaws. Several even. The real problem, is that Vrains is unfortunately written in such a way that Yusaku CANNOT lose a game, or the whole plot crashes down. And that is why he ends up having to materialize wins out of thin air with super specific hate cards that look to be made for exactly the situation he is in. Doesn't help that the flaws he does have, are not well explored either. I wanted to see more of how his trauma afflicts his daily life, aside from his clearly antisocial attitude.

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

@@starbound100 you basicaly said why he is a Gary stu. He has flaws but those flaws really don't matter to the story or get explored so.

[@SuperNeos2]

Yusaku isn’t a Gary Stu. He’s just a strong duelist. He has a lot of character flaws that everyone calls him out on and it hinders him many times, especially in the first season. It’s been a while so I may be wrong, but I’m sure that Aoi and Go both give him crap for being a loner and call him out for being so full of himself.

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

@@SuperNeos2 Again, if the flaws don't matter to the story it's being told, the charcater is a Gary Stu plot perspective, maybe not characterization perspective. They call Playmaker a loner... is it ever prove that PM needs help to fight aside from Kusanagi miracle hacking skills? No, in the Tower of Hanoi arc, PM defeated Specter and Revolver, he could 100% defeat the other knights that appeared one at a time, at no point does it matter that he has a team, except maybe Bohman's arc, but even them he isn't the first one to fight Bohman but is the only one who defeats him. My biggest problem with the character is that at some point (maybe against Akira) he said something like it's because of the Lost Incident that I'm unable to relate with, to make friends, but at no point in the show he ever takes the iniative to make a friend, except with Revolver, but because he knew he helped him as a child (and there's no explanation of why did Ryoken helped Yusaku and not the others for some reason). All the other times he just acts distant, he doesn't try to make friends (so I don't get how does he expects to make them, literally all friends he had come to him not the other way). Yusaku was an introvert not a shy person so it looked like he didn't like being around people more like he was lonely. Also the fact that he blamed the incident on how he is during the show was always a problem to me, because until Bohman's arc you don't gt to see Yusaku before the incident and we only got like a 1min flashback of it, and that is the only thing that proves Yusaku wasn't always like that

[@tking2199]

Wow this was the most reasonable view on the Yu-Gi-Oh series anime and it's just simply a tier list based on the series' first arc. Definitely subbing.

[@vanesslifeygo]

Happy to see VRAINS up there -- though due to recap episodes, I think 5D's should have the same ranking as it. VRAINS S1 is no fun to rewatch, though, as Yusaku is a repetitive player with little struggle amidst the actual card game. My Borreload Dragon is happy with the ranks.

[@awesumsauce24]

"arc v is the most simple yugioh anime"

[@eclipsesans8273]

Yuto, Yugo, Lulu, Rin, Celina and Yuri in the background: im about to end this mans whole career

[@okay2975]

1. Yu-Gi-Oh GX 2. Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds 3. Yu-Gi-Oh DM 4. Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal 5. Yu-Gi-Oh ArcV 6. Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains

[@CakeCrab]

great tierlist! Don't get your hopes too much up for vrains, the first arc is way better than the rest of the show. Zexal becomes way better in the second half.

[@PlatinumButthurt]

Lol no

[@shanebriggs5819]

I'd move 5ds to S, GX to D, ARC V to B, but otherwise I agree completely with the list. I will say its funny that the action duels getting boring in season 1 of ARC V is noticeable because in my mind, that was the only time they were interesting. The action duel aspect becomes even more underplayed throughout the rest of the show.

[@ubaidbeg1883]

In my opinion: S Zexal A Vrains B Yu-Gi-Oh! (original) C Arc-V D 5D's F GX and Sevens

[@yuutaruu4242]

Original as in DM or 0?

[@cohenmarioman]

5Ds has probably best first Arc but it’s second Arc is even better. Don’t know if you consider Dark Signers the same arc though

[@mycatsnameisdash]

Imo I think Zexal (minus filler) and Arc V are the best of the anime, and I've watched through them multiple times

[@GeorgeTheRapper2]

I’ve heard that of all the Yugioh shows that have been dubbed that Yugioh 5DS was censored the hardest. They don’t want to show any deaths, torture, weapons or mature themes and there’s an entire arc missing from 5DS. Idk for sure cuz I’ve never watched it but just putting it out there.

[@ericgropuis]

I can agree with a lot of these expect Rush series cause I haven’t watched them at all other than knowing it’s the shortest series. I definitely agree with Vrains, 5Ds and DM have great first arcs which hooks you in, Vrains currently is probably my favorite series at the moment could change any moment tho. Zexal and Arc-V have the opposite problems with their arcs. Zexal has a very boring beginning cause there isn’t anything really going for it until halfway through the series and I enjoy the ending a lot. Arc-V has a very strong start but then becomes way too complex for its own good it was my favorite series until near the end where it soured on me.

[@horrorsymphony]

Heck yeah thanks for giving Season 0 the love it deserves. I own the first 7 volumes for this very reason! I enjoyed your analysis thanks again!

[@Yugiohsachse]

Gx was the best

[@Noooskie586]

Nice joke

[@Magna_Dragon]

The problems with Sevens and Go Rush is that the first arc episodes are tutorials

[@mikai4738]

Go Rush had way more tutorials than Sevens in its first arc. Sevens didn't explain every little shit.

[@aster8398]

I don't know what are you talking about. Vrains surely has mature and dark themes and atmosphere (Aoi getting fuckminded by Specter in like episode 6 my god) but it's objectively slow as shit. You get the first 30 episode of only duels (i found interesting only the first one with Revolver and Akira) that are boring, like who cares about the 3 duded that follow Revolver? Specter adds some spicy but you have to wait 30 episodes for that. The final part is not bad but the Link Vrains is like a slideshow of bits where you only surf. There is almost no exploration, and the show focalizes solely on the duels. I cant argue as i want because you havent watched all of Vrains. The first part of 5ds is fresh. Every episode is dynamic, plenty of world building, different POV, character development, and all the duels makes me feel about their importance. The fortune cup is a perfect arc to introduce the main characters. Vrain doesnt explore the Link Vrains like 5ds explores the Satellite and all the problems. I'm amazed how the people always agrees with the videos like a magnet. And for the edgy comment, have you watched the dub version?

[@blackvalio4060]

The duelists kingdom rules are like this because the game hasn't been created yet

[@nick8402]

Go rush has been getting a lot better after the tutorial aspects of the first arc ended

[@lucasbelmont3191]

True now is actualy enjoyable

[@XxbelligerentxX]

I know this vid is over a year old, but I feel like the first arc is p much from the beginning up to when Chazz returns to Duel Academy and rejoins but in Slifer Red.

[@DeathMetalDuelist666]

I can’t wait for you to watch the rest of VRAINS. I just finished it and boy it is actually the best

[@EnigmaAnime]

Soon

[@Espingol]

You should make a video about Akiza and why she’s the best female Yugioh character

[@RyanAtlus]

Sadly, exclusively in season 1. She really got done dirty after the Dark Signers arc.

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

@@RyanAtlus still better than the rest

[@nbassasin8092]

@@RyanAtlus wdym by that

[@RyanAtlus]

@@nbassasin8092 Her most relevant storyline takes place in season 1, after that she was pretty much mostly a cheerleader.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

She's not. Sherry and Anna are better

[@corrinthechocolatine4025]

Duel Monster: pretty strange start if you're used to the official rules, but overall ok. GX: great start and a simple yet refreshing setting, but not much good duels. 5D : most mature setting, and every duel of the first arc, althought not 100 percent interesting to watch has a least weight in the overall scenario. Zexal: extremely weak start, with Astral and Kaito's mysteries being the only highlights. Vrains: strongest start in my opinion. Great characters, every duels are good, and Playmaker's quest, Ai's origin and Knights of Aoi's purpose made for a very good first intrigue.

[@nbassasin8092]

least weight is the best part IMO, of both GX and 5ds, you dont know the characters, havent bonded with them, and yet you are expected to care about Yugis grandpa or Mokuba or Tristans sister. In GX they let you get to know the characters, get to like/hate them, and then they start going more serious route. 5ds starts bit heavier but like you said, first arc alone has no serious danger, but again as GX, it lets you get to know the crew and care for them, and then throws them in danger. Also, it flows way better into second arc than any other (DM is the only one that has argument of having better flow between first 2 arcs) more dire scenario does not always result in better show, there is a good video on yt about that if you are interested

[@magiradyne]

Seeing someone acknowledge VRAINS' first arc feels good. It's fucking awesome. The show is wildly inconsistent but when it hits, it hits so good. (The rest of the show is definitely worth watching IMO, I think a lot of its problems have to do with production issues behind the scenes.)

[@JacJGraham]

"Vrains is in S Tier" MY GOD I LOVE YOU! IT IS TRULY THE BEST OF THE 6 ORIGINAL SHOWS

[@bane2988]

I've been on the fence about Vrains ever since it came out because I was salty about MR4 but after this video I gave it a chance. Ended up binging all the way to Yusaku vs Revolver and I'm hooked now.

[@TheDeathmail]

To be fair, for the 1st season of Yugioh, the real game IS the Duelist Kingdom arc.... WE are the ones playing it with different rules... Konami's rules... But think about it.... is it fair to say that the source materiel is wrong and the product based on the show is correct??? Shouldn't it be the other way around???

[@ChaosAC24]

Great video! I’ve only gotten up to the middle of the first arc in vrains, but I agree with you on the first 5 series. I’ve always said the same thing when it came to 5Ds. It tries to be dark yugioh but DM was dark, and its edgy but not mature. still very enjoyable though. I feel like zexal picks up and gets really enjoyable during the carnival arc. That’s also when i began liking yuma

[@sjrdan]

My whole room being only Yuma and Kite, makes me sad that Zexal is in D tier, but trust me, Zexal is very VERY good.

[@MuTen_09]

It gets better in the following seasons

[@vanesslifeygo]

Zexal absolutely has a terrible first season and there is no way to have the best possible run through it without cutting out chunks of 7-8 episodes and shipping halves of other episodes.

[@lisagriffin5835]

I never watched season 0 of Yu-Gi-Oh before, but I watched the duelist kingdom episodes. They are so good and awesome. I never watched the episodes from Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens before on DVD. I can't wait to get the Yu-Gi-Oh! DVD box set for Christmas. Sabrina Griffin 👍🥰🥰🥰😍

[@zaquhe]

Vrains' first arc is solid (outside the multiple recap episodes that only exist due to production issues) I'm surprised all it got for a summary was essentially the first episode.

[@ragingnero3884]

I am so tired of Zexal getting so much disrespect. I feel like now it's just a hype train to hate it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but at this point I feel like I watched a different show than everyone else. Because I absolutely loved it. And I've seen all of them and I can with confidence put Zexal at the top 3 of all the shows.

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

I can kinda get it. But to me Zexal was a copy of DM adding XYZ monsters. •The MC has an strange ítem which is holding on his neck. •The MC has an spirit partner. •The spirit partner doesn't have all his memories and need to recover them to remember his misión. •The rival is cold to anyone aside from his brother. •Last duel is MC vs the partner. I know most of this points are about the first arc but that shows how much they copy Takahashi's work in the first YGO anime he basically didn't work, and to be worse when I watched Zexal I was recently finishing DM cause I watched 5D'S, GX, DM and then Zexal. And personally I didn't like Yuma's actitud so I didn't get to like him until his last duel with Kite, and even then I didn't like him that much. And I think that is the biggest problem with people trying to like the show, if they don't like the MC you probably won't like the show cause he is the one who will be in nearly every episode

[@1BadAssArchAngelvs14]

@@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu except zexal is a carbon copy by at least 2 percent.the villains and the blood line war of Yu-Gi-Oh zexal is what it makes it original.what about sharks blood line and kaito's father's relationships with the barins.the archlight blood line feud with kaito's father dr.faker or how don thousand made all the number cards a poisoned greed to inofuince the power of chaos and barins force.only 1 thing makes zexal a copy by the end of the day and that was pretty much astral.vecters dark manipulation of the barins to usurp the barins throne to be come king.the barins back story on sharks barins blood line.too be honest zexal is oringinal like how the Numeron code created pretty much the omniverse yet only one character in zexal makes it un-oringinal that's astral.Kaito character and sharks character actual have development and resulutions that actual matterd.what about astral worlds intolerant side to try to delete everyone with the Numeron code to start over.if anything akaba reiji having a little brother should of tipped you off too.

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

@@1BadAssArchAngelvs14 First it could be great to put spaces between points, difficult to follow in a phone. Second, Shark's Barian backstory was probably the most convoluted plot of the franchise, they were building Shark to be one o the good guys, a good rival to Yuma, then he remembers he is one o the Barians so he kills everyone, also he is the spirit of a fallen Barian who is also the spirit of a fallen prince who is inhabiting the corpse of Ryoga/Reinald cause he died. It's ridiculous how convoluted his story is, just to make him the final boss or something. The Barian arc also didn't made much sense as seen with the Numbers that were on ancient ruins, when it was stated that numbers areived to Earth when Astral crushed with Yuma. Also in the barians duels if a barian defeats you in a duel, you are death, but Kaito defeated Mizael but Mizael didn't die, what's the point of fighting the barians if the stakes are asymmetric. I give a point to Zexal, seeing Kaito die was the only time where I had tears in my eyes watching this franchise, that doesn't change Zexal as a whole could barely made it to the top 3 of best YGO anime.

[@Honest_Mids_Masher]

@@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu Kite isn't the rival though....shark is

[@Corvy952]

Gx & 5Ds always go back and forth as my favorites. Zexal I’ve learned to appreciate much more as I got older. Narratively it’s a tie between 5Ds & Zexal but personal favorites I have to love gx and 5Ds.

[@DarkEclipse23]

For me it’s GX. I LOVE the total chill vibe. Not to mention Chazz’s character arc. 😂

[@Ryo-kun]

What is your thought on Go Rush human characters being a carbon copy of Sevens ones. Is it a clever attempt on connecting Sevens or it is lazy?

[@EnigmaAnime]

It's definitely the latter.

[@colinduchilio4052]

As someone who is familiar with both shows - they're not carbon copies. Many characters are named after or based after characters from Sevens, usually also voiced by their original VAs, but are mostly different from their Sevens counterparts, at least when it comes to the kids (see: Roa and London, Romin and Rovian). Additionally, it is as of yet unknown whether or not it is a Sequel to Sevens, or an alternate universe, which has implications on the characters either way

[@M3rtyville]

Boomer is alive. I feel 5D is the most mid yugioh series to me with the best arc being dark signer's. To me non of the arcs can match even Duel Monsters with the exception of the first Big 5 Filler and Grand Prix. GX starts underwhelming but overall it turned out for me to be the best Yugioh series with Season 3 being the best arc in any yugioh series. While Season 4 is a mixed bag, it has pretty good closure to any important character, a very dark settings, Judai becoming very likable and a nice way to end the series finale with a dream match. Generally speaking, I feel GX is the best in terms of card explanation. They tell enough for the viewer to understand what cards do, but doesn't feel like you are being infodumbed information everyone knows like "You still take damage" or "Oh, 0 atk points. You wanna lose?". Yugioh Duel Monsters has its best arc for me Battle City where the game becomes more reasonable. Zexal I could not get in. The MC is way too annoying. Arc V I think is pretty bad. I suffered through a lot of episodes hoping something of a pay off... at the end I dropped it after Zarc's defeat... there way no point to watch the "conclusion'" episodes since I never really cared about Reiji as a character and the concept of smiles was poorly executed. Also the overexplanation of effects and what's gonna happen turned me off. Vrains I dropped after 19 episodes after the billions time seeing a recap episode... it became unbearable sitting for weeks hoping for new content to get nothing. Sevens and Go Rush were surprisingly entertaining with their parodic level of seriousness but later showing actual stakes. Also I really liked watching the new take on Yugioh since the older version is way too complicated to advertise for newcomers. So my ranking is 1. GX 2 OG Yugioh / Season 0 included 3. 5ds 4. Go Rush 5. Sevens (since it is too episodic compared to Go Rush) 6. Arc V 7. Zexal and Vrains

[@Mordekaiser0305]

What I hate about Arc-V is the legacy characters not being the same ones from the previous series. Personally, it would've been better if what happened is all the legacy characters are the ones we knew, then each main protag was a spirit companion for each of the Yu-boys like how Yami is to Yugi. Yugi is for Yuya - Yuya has that drive to prove himself to others, especially during the first arc when he's trying to prove that his dad wasn't a coward. Like Little Yugi who had been in Atem's shadow, he strived and proved himself a capable duelist. Yuto - Yuto and Yuma are both from Heartland, and both fought against invading forces (Yuto being the Fusion Dimensions and Yuma with the Barians) and most importantly, hope. Yugo - Yugo having Yusei as his spirit companion is, alright as both of them started from the ground up, as they're both from the slums but that's about it really. Honestly they're the one which has the least compatibility. Yuri - Oh boy, this will be a little different. No, it's not gonna be Jaden. Well, technically it's Jaden. Specifically, Supreme King Jaden. Yuri being born from Zarcs rage and malice, it would be a good idea to, due to Yuri being Zarc's every dark aspect, Yuri's spirit companion, instead of being the guide, becomes corrupted and reverts to his very own dark self.

[@KingJadInfiniteHope]

DM > 5d’s > GX >>>>>>>>> everything else.

[@sirtitan3338]

I don't watched Yu-Gi-Oh much, so when I saw this video and was informed by the artstyle change from an original style to literally just Pokémon. I was just lost

[@ナイトウィング]

I watched every yugioh anime in my opinion it's S→ A→5ds GX ZEXAL B→DM SEVENS Season0 C→ D→arc-V VRAINS Trash→Go!Rush（currently） ZEXAL started boring but it has the best final arc in my opinion arc-V and VRAINS are the opposite OK in the first arc but finish with a lot of floaws

[@ggnoreid6990]

I know all of the seasons are guilty of this to various extents, but what turns me off from the two Rush Duel animes is how blatantly obvious they are of being glorified commercials. Duelist Kingdom/Battle City just used the game as a vehicle for the narrative to happen, but for Sevens/Go Rush the narrative is the game.

[@palwatcher6903]

9:14 “duel monsters was already a pretty edgy show” yet YuGiOh became popular in the west… I remember when I was a kid, a lot of dark themes from shows like Digimon just went over my head, but at the end of the day I still found it cool.

[@mantonchannel6321]

Totally agreed with this list especially Vrains

[@keemstar8858]

The best yugioh anime is Wixoss.

[@DaveReturnsagain1]

Ha this! This is the best thing I've ever heard. And I 100% agree!

[@MuTen_09]

Context?

[@makotoamamiya2442]

I definitely do agree with Vrains being the best. I think 5Dd is also up there with it in terms of what it's first arc was building towards. I wanna say Zeal had a better first arc than DM, I think it's because of the characters, like pegasus is a great villain but.. something about DMs first arc isn't that great sadly.

[@blackchibisan8116]

Ah, Bastian’s introduction… That man could never have gone on an airplane in that universe

[@uninspiredname2974]

>sevens and go rush in F Lmao, get a load of this guy

[@lewisgrant7622]

3 sacred beasts. Knockoff slifer, knockoff obelisk and knockoff winged dragon of Ra

[@Tanner_LaFond]

Wow I had no idea there was even another show after Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens. Yu-Gi-Oh Go Rush, I'll have to look that up. Sounds like we need another more mature series, hopefully it happens soon.

[@AliAhmed-is2fr]

From what I have seen, duelists kingdom is the best.

[@jasonderijk6868]

Sebastian was wrong with that move looking like he strapped six explosives to his chest.

[@lavenderlavender3952]

I'd say Yuma is like a B tier, but Astral is an S and their dynamic together is high A, so it all evens out with the other protagonists imo. I don't get why people adore Yugi and Yami so much. Yami is an obvious S tier, but Yugi is essentially non-existent in the story up until the end. Yuma and Astral greatly improved that dynamic by actually having them interact in the outside world.

[@benschmelzer7748]

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you haven’t gotten past the first arc of 5D’s yet, but saying 5D’s isn’t mature knowing some of the bigger ideas the show tackles on top of the character arcs and journeys that Yusei, some of the side characters and villains alike go through on this show… That’s just an egregiously incorrect statement sir and I hope you finish analyzing the full anime to realize that since it seems you’re just judging it off of reputation.

[@dscomeback9502]

Forget the anime for a sec, which Yugioh manga do you like? My ranking is: 1) Gx 2) Ocg Structure 3) Yugioh DM 4) Zexal 5) 5D's 6) Arc-V I havent read DM's spinoff like Yugioh R yet so I won't include it

[@sparksoul_xyz]

I agree that vrains is the best yugioh anime, but I can say that you'll be surprised when know that Go Rush is near good as vrains, it definetely A tier if it's not S. Just give it a chance and keep watching it till the end. It's way way better than sevens (which is so trash for me personally)

[@ZFang7]

Um what? The first arc of Arc V is not just the first 10 something episodes. It goes up to episode 49. If you're gonna make a list like this, do it accurately.

[@sumoshi5752]

Tell me about it.

[@Honest_Mids_Masher]

And even then the first ten episodes were done really well all the characters felt like they had potential and had moments to shine....hated that shivers kid though. Also Sawatari best character.

[@averywatsonjr728]

CAN YOU PLEASE FINISH ARC V AND MAKE A REVIEW ON IT PLS ITS SOOOO GOOD😭

[@ManhunterFromMars]

Lol all the comments with fanboys from each series getting mad their show isn’t ranked 1. Now I see why yugioh everything doesn’t do an official show tier list. I think your list is pretty good personally. Vrains and season zero are fantastic. Original duel monsters is great too but bogged down later on by a lot of mediocre filler episodes. The other shows are somewhere in between, but most have slow first arcs with a lot of pointless episodes and slow plot build up. What makes vrains the best is it doesn’t waste six months on random slice of life school duels like GX, Zexal, and Arc V did for so long. The plot is intriguing and continuous from the start. Characters aren’t just carefree children like how they start off in most of the spin-offs either. Everyone has a tragic and relatable past for adult viewers to connect to. I do enjoy the other spin-offs but the basic nature of a show like Sevens really does leave it at the bottom for me. None of the mysteries were really resolved for me in a satisfactory way. Even though I enjoyed watching each episode on its own merits, looking at it overall, it’s just a series of silly duels with a meta plot that goes nowhere and worst of the franchise villains. Most of the shows do get better after the first arc, but I can’t really say that for Sevens. It just got worse and by the end I was really turned off by the rushed format of each arc. 13 episode arcs were bad enough, but the final villain arc was only 5 episodes. I know they lost some episodes due to Covid, but couldn’t they have cut some of the pointless duels like the remote control duel and included something to tie the plot together better?

[@madeinmeme9688]

Zexal doesn't feel like a waste of time... IT IS A WASTE OF TIME!

[@3zOzXzoom]

My list is: Yugioh: simple, amazing GX: simple, fun, then pretty cool in later episodes Arc-v: Pretty annoying at start, got some badass characters, specially zarc, but mid tier overall Vrains: watched around 20 episodes, got transformers vibes .. couldn’t complete it “Didn’t watch others”