The Problem with Yugioh Girls - Zexal

[@Mangakamen]

Be sure to leave a like, a comment, and if you want more vids like this - It helps with that. Edit: To make something clear, I cannot substantiate those claims about 5d's being less popular than Zexal - I definitely do recall reading articles about that when I started this script 2 years ago, but having gone through my links to said articles, they are dead. So I suppose you can take that with a grain of salt I suppose.

[@tarikkash4282]

Your videos are awesome in , I am writing my own comic stories and your work is helping me write better, female characters!

[@TerryB01]

Hey Kamen, what was that fanfic where that one guy targeted Abilisk Blue girls becuase they just got put there for being girls and didn't have to work for it?

[@takeruneverborn4740]

Well can't wait for more underated anime and manga that you enjoyed Mangakamen

[@UnluckyFella-h2z]

Vector villain analysis when?

[@jaredcassidy7635]

@@Mangakamen I wish you luck on your next ARC-V because last time, I see it was difficult for you.

[@derektom14]

Fun fact, Zexal is the first series to pass the Bech-Duel test: two named female duelists duel each other, and the duel is not about a male character. The duel is Cathy versus Pip, and it's about cats and dogs.

[@GrapeCheckerBoard]

And the first duel Cathy gets exists for the purpose of getting her out of the tournament.

[@issacalleyne8665]

@@GrapeCheckerBoard And the person she lost to did jack shit in the tournament. Because it was a girl.

[@derektom14]

@@GrapeCheckerBoard First duel after the obligatory loss against Yuma when introduced, of course.

[@haibanehochaille7010]

@@issacalleyne8665 no

[@WaterKirby1994]

Akiza vs Misty in 5Ds Signer War didn't count? Also didn't the Capsule Monster Villain Team have names?

[@UnluckyFella-h2z]

Ngl Cathy was underutilized. Her cat themed deck could’ve evolved into something like Zoodiacs. And even then she could’ve had a number in her first encounter. Number 29 would fit with her deck and its effect could be useful for her field filling strategy. But nooooo we can’t have another one of Yuma’s friends to have a number! We already have the Dragon guy and the Shark guy! We don’t need a Feline Female too!

[@riotkitty]

I hope her Stray Cats get printed someday.

[@Raymonds_Rays]

@@riotkitty They’re in duel links the mobile game

[@christopherb501]

Considering the places the Bridge anime have seemed to deliberately do things that the Gallop anime would never do, wonder if the increasing attention to cats is any factor.

[@scailerboy]

Zoodiacs don't really fit her that well since she doesn't like all the animals apparently. Probably the best deck they could've given her is something like Purrely. But you're right, she should've been a Number user.

[@olyviermonteau4300]

@@Raymonds_Rays he said printed*

[@silversoul2770]

I always really liked Kotori because, while she's not a duelist, she always puts in effort to help Yuma and Astral when nobody else does. She takes charge, kicks robot ass, and acts as an emotional pillar when people need it. She's also the first of their group to be able to precieve Astral permanently. When Yuma was depressed after that first duel with Kite, Kotori did everything in her power to cheer him up. As annoying and dumb Yuma can be at times, seeing him like that hurt her a lot. He wasn't himself, so she wanted to help remind him of why he shouldn't give up. Could she have dueled more? Sure. But she had her role and did it well.

[@ska187]

Pillar is an understatement since she is more like his entire support system. She is the only one there standing by Yuma when everyone else is dead and he has to fight nasch. She is the one Yuma trusts completely.

[@MadDragonify]

Your picture made me want this channel to talk about Vanguard Never gonna happen but would be cool

[@littlekuribohimposte]

One of my favourite bits with her is before Yuma duels Alito, when he’s being chased by a brainwashed mob, Shark and Rio are there with their duel disks to help, and Kotori has a frying pan. She’s not gonna throw cards, she’s ready to throw hands

[@silversoul2770]

@@littlekuribohimposte FR! She doesn't duel, but she's always ready to knock someone out to defend herself. I really wish we did see some of those brainwashed duelist try to attack her just to get knocked out by the frying pan.

[@Eric6761]

To be fair it was difficult to help defend Yuma because basically half of his friends were killed

[@literalthrowaway6051]

honestly zexal was always flawed, especially with its female cast but its what got me into yugioh and ill always love it for that

[@Mangakamen]

Understandable. Glad it got you into it.

[@slots777]

Saving the Barians for a essay on writing villains sounds like it could make for a good video.

[@zexal5499]

More so Vector than the rest. Especially since he outshines even Don Thousand

[@slots777]

@@zexal5499 True, but you can't really talk about him without talking about the others, so....

[@haibanehochaille7010]

@@zexal5499 no

[@zexal5499]

@@slots777 I mean the rest don't even feel villainous, Vector quite literally knew he was being manipulated and still chose to screw with Yuma and the crew.

[@slots777]

@@zexal5499 I mean, they were villainous enough, even if Don Thousand was just manipulating them. Still, the context just isn’t the same without talking about the Barians as a whole. Least imo.

[@richardhuang7158]

In the subbed version, there was a part in the episode where caswell becomes a strict class president where he gives the girls an infraction for wearing skimpy skirts which prompts them to whack him on the head and point out that it’s literally the school uniform. Idk if the lampshading makes it better or worse…

[@ska187]

Tbh, I imagine from the girls pov that somebody telling them what to wear or what not to wear when they are already following the stated rules is something they don’t like. Regardless if they are skimpy skirts or some other rule Caswell wanted to enforce.

[@cameoshadowness7757]

I personally think it makes it worse because not only does it show that they KNOW its problematic but it also shows the girls really don't have a choice IN UNIVERSE and its gross. They HAVE to wear it and they now have someone needlessly mad for them following the rules that they have no choice on. Its just makes it more gross.

[@toumabyakuya]

@@cameoshadowness7757 I mean, it is just a common shounen school trope. This isn't the only anime with those school uniforms.

[@cameoshadowness7757]

@toumabyakuya doesn't change the fact that it's disgusting and they clearly know it's wrong even IN UNIVERSE.

[@marcusclark1339]

@@cameoshadowness7757 its not problematic, its fine

[@lyricalvarez7919]

Zexal is actually my favorite installment and I had wished it continued so the big relationship reveal at the end could’ve been fleshed out. Plus Anna Kaboom is best girl.

[@mobafan3713]

I agree that Zexal is the best, but Rio is my fav girl

[@lyricalvarez7919]

@@mobafan3713 I can respect that 🫡

[@nigou2706]

It's my favorite too ^^

[@JakeBosh15]

Anna should've been the main girl

[@mobafan3713]

@@JakeBosh15 not really. I mean, she's good as she is honestly. The whole idea was great, she just needed more screen time that's all

[@NightsOfKyte]

I think Rio instead of just siding with her brother and her barian hertiage, she rebelled and sided with the humans due to the friendships she made, it would have made a much more interesting story for her. Maybe she protects Kotori and Tetsuo from Durbe (Who also isn't given much and with their connection to Shark could have been a great duel) when the war begins. They could even still have Vector eventually beat her, with him claiming he's merely hunting a traitor. But she would have had a lot more potential fighting against her own people than just standing around as Merag beating Tetsuo and losing to Vector.

[@NoBull4LYFE_Official]

Uk what I never thought of that but yea that would go hard.

[@silversoul2770]

@@NightsOfKyte Well, the whole point of Rio and Shark was that they were tragic siblings. Always together but always end up separated by tragedy. There was supposed to be another Barian Emperor that would side with Yuma, but due to time constraints that potential plot point was abandoned.

[@NightsOfKyte]

@@silversoul2770 Well that just ended with Rio being incapacitated or dying repeatedly for Shark's development. Which sure, goes into the tragic siblings that you mentioned but leaves Rio with no story of her own. I find the idea of her trying to break that cycle even if it ends in failure more compelling, then just mindlessly following whatever Shark does.

[@silversoul2770]

@@NightsOfKyte I do think it makes sense that she doesn't. Why separate from her brother who she has been forcibly torn away from time and time again? I do wish they could've fleshed her out more. If Zexal had more time near the end, they likely could've given Rio/Mirage more time to develop.

[@NightsOfKyte]

@@silversoul2770 But she gets separated anyway due to dying to Vector again. But sure, if you want her to just be her brother's shadow, I was just offering an alternate suggestion. Anyway, last bit I will say on the topic is, there's a reason we are both commenting on a video titled, "Problem with Yugioh Girls".

[@pagananarchist4723]

They really went overboard with the number of supporting characters in both Zexal and ARC-V

[@liotheeeveetrainer4305]

Indeed but at least zexal's wern't COMPLITLY underused and had lasy desins and absolutly no personality (i hate ark V so much FUCK YOU CROW)

[@RaineBans]

gx too

[@stephvondames6369]

Honestly, respect to Tori for confessing her feelings.

[@mightymanatee5342]

The only one to actually do it.

[@UnrealMisterD]

I don't know if I love or hate the terrible pun she did while doing it in the dub...

[@zexalbrony4799]

Agreed.

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

​@UnrealMisterD I feel like they were trying to be cute with it, but came across as more so cringe, really. I can't say I'm at all surprised by this, since it's made pretty obvious that she likes him, what with how she's basically attached to Yuma by the hip and it feels like half of her dialog consists of her saying his name at any chance she gets

[@Holly-khore-levina]

Honestly Kotori feels like another take on Tea/Anzu as the "gal who cheers on the main duelist despite not being one herself," but with the big asterisk that with Anzu that was more a side-effect of other characters taking precedence once Yughioh the manga became Duel Monsters centered and sacrifices were made for cast focus. For Kotori that's just her status quo from the word go. And it means she basically just exists to cheer Yuuma on and have beef with the other girls that also have a thing for him. Anna was conceptually interesting at least, tho of course the big aterisk to apply is she gets done dirty by never actually trying to hook up with Yuma despite the buildup. Along with having a lot of duels where she was shown as potentially competent, but never quite was able to go the distance. And Droite and Rio can be summed up with the same/similar problem: great setup, awesome background, gets pretty thoroughly screwed over on the altar of hyping up the next big bad. Droite survived a bit better since she came back from it... but it is unfortunate that she effectively was sidelined for a large chunk of the story considering she served as connective tissue for Kaito outside of the Galaxy Eyes stuff. Rio/Merag on the other hand... does not benefit from that. Only having two wins in her duel time, only one on-screen, and spends the rest of her time getting her ass handed to her on a platter. Had she gotten introduced earlier on I feel like she might have been handled better.

[@christopherb501]

Also might have helped if she had gotten any presence in the manga, or if Arc-V had made her a legac-hahahaha, HA! 😂 😂 😂 Oh man...couldn't get thru that second one with a straight face...

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

And Cathy?

[@D-Havoc]

While in the original Yu-Gi-Oh manga, the focus on dueling would tend to sideline the ones who aren't duelist, that problem is really prevalent with the Yu-Gi-Oh DM anime. In the manga, most of Yugi's friends that aren't duelist may not get to fight on the frontlines, they still are with Yugi through his troubles. It helps that they more aware of the supernatural elements wit the Millennium Items (unlike in the anime) and help out in other ways. Anzu bought the pendant at the museum for Dark Yugi to etch his name into it so that he could remember it. It seemed like a small getsure, but it ended up being the one thing to help deliver Dark Yugi's name to him during the Millennium World/Dark RPG arc.

[@superstitch5618]

@@christopherb501 Who we’re you preferring to, Anna? Then ya, she deserved more presence than what she got. Also, I know that the legacy characters in Arc-V are sometimes not viewed well with some fans, but honestly, if Anna was a legacy character in Arc-V, it actually would make sense. Considering her explosive personality, the fact that she carries around a giant cannon that flies and that the Arc-V version of Heartland City in the Xyz Dimension was at war with the Fusion Dimension. I would definitely see her as a prominent member of the resistance and using her massive rail guns/train deck to blast away the invaders from the Fusion armies. Also, considering that a semi-male equivalent of her with a same last name is shown who also uses Trains named Allen Kozuki exists. I feel like they could’ve removed Allen with Anna instead. Also, considering that Arc-V gave both the Synchro (5D’s) and Fusion (GX) dimensions each two prominent legacy characters while they only gave the Xyz (Zexal) dimension just one with Kite. Adding Anna there could’ve easily filled the void for the second Zexal character.

[@arseneronan9186]

Shark: I will defeat the Barians Rio: no shark you are a barian Then shark becomes a barian

[@amberknight7301]

I for one would have loved to see Shark’s reaction if Rio did develop feelings for Yuma.

[@esteban8471]

Yuma would honestly be the only guy Shark would even consider approving considering how much he respects him. Yuma might not be the sharpest card in the deck, but he's driven, passionate and loyal. Several characters, including Shark, have remarked how lucky they are to have Yuma in their lives.

[@ConstantinDOSSOU-vy1zo]

​@@esteban8471not really . If Shark needed to chose Yuma would be his first decision but he isn't the type of brother who would be against Rio's choice if the man is good for her. This misconception of him was in the joke .

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

Funnily enough she DID develop feelings for bronk (hence the tear when she killed him), who shark likes even less than Yuma lol

[@esteban8471]

@@ConstantinDOSSOU-vy1zo I'm well aware Shark isn't *that* far in the overprotective spectrum, though we technically don't know how he'd really react since the misconception was him thinking Bronk was just challenging to a regular duel which spiraled into a situation so ridiculous he was more caught off guard than anything else. I meant to say that if Rio fell for anyone, Shark would have felt the most comfortable if it was Yuma considering what he had done for them. But admittedly, I should have phrased my comment better.

[@Lunacorva]

He'd forbid her. Absolutely forbid her. Not because he's overprotective. He just doesn't want to be woken up at 6 in the F***KING morning because Rio invited that idiot to stay over and he broke something yelling "Kattabingu!" Plus, you KNOW Rio would make Shark and Yuma share a room. And while Shark loves Yuma like a brother... no. No. No. No. That is a hell he wouldn't wish even on VECTOR. ...For more than one night.

[@jalenjohnson0339]

I’ll give Kotori this I rewatched Zexal so far stop at 34 but I’ll get back into it soon. She does play her role well she really does support and cheer Yuma a lot and hell she the only girl lead that actually confessed. I like Anna a lot wish she actually got a lot of screen time but sadly that’s not the case. Rio is actually pretty good her problem is she was introduce so late when she was introduce Zexal was half way over. If she would have been introduce early she would have been in the discussion of maybe being in the top 5 of Yugioh girl character

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

Plus I think her English VA is the same gal that does Iris in the Black & White Pokemon anime as well.

[@NewtBannner]

“BABE WAKE UP! MANGAKAMEN DROPPED A NEW PROBLEM WITH YUGIOH GIRLS!! What, you don’t know what that is? Oh yeah we started dating a year ago ….”

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

IMO we needed a zexal 3. Zexals 1 and 2 had a plot structure that basically forced them to focus on Yuma, shark, and kite. But with a zexal 3 and a new looming threat teased in the finale, they wouldn't necessarily be chained down to *just* those three for the focus.

[@christopherb501]

Zexal 3 would certainly have been better than the two that followed...

[@RaylinKHD]

Rio isnt a mary sue because she doesn't break the in universe logic. Everything she does is explained and follows the rules of the verse

[@Diamondr11Blue]

I don't think she necessarily is. If she was she would've won the duel vs shark with no competition outright. Just bc she can keep up in athletics and other things with powers doesn't make her one. If anything I think her mysterious foresight powers were a result of her former self marin being a priestess or abyss

[@videogamerzero1schannel]

You're FINALLY doing the Zexal girls! Which yeah they are weird with how they hit those young characters with fanservice but disregarding that, yeah they aren't that badly handled compared to before & ESPECIALLY AFTER other Yugioh series, like I do wish Anna did got more screentime given her trait of shooting the problems away alongside yeah wishing the large cast was focused on instead of being almost filler but despite that, Zexal is like Top 3 Yugioh generation, alongside VRAINS & 5DS at least for me

[@riotkitty]

Dang, shonen series having fanservice? Oh the humanity!

[@videogamerzero1schannel]

@@riotkitty it would've been fine if they weren't underage because that's the creepy part especially since it also happens in My Hero Acadamia, I still enjoy that series but dang I wish the young girl fanservice wasn't there which makes it hard to vouch for Mineta very guilty of allowing that even if he does have the few redeeming moments where he's friends with Izuku

[@Loner098]

​@@riotkitty But haven't there already been lots of other Shonen anime with fan service like Fairy Tail?

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

@@videogamerzero1schannel Most of those shows are for teenagers though, so fanservice with teenage characters for a teenage audience isn't much of a issue. If the show was primed for an adult audience, that would be a different story.

[@videogamerzero1schannel]

@@willfanofmanyii3751 right but still, the fact they're underage freak me out & doesn't change the fact it's kinda gross, especially when even Mega Man NT Warrior had this in Japan but at least some of them were older woman & the other was yikes

[@hyperdreamer9483]

For Ikari I feel like she didn’t want him to duel cause she knew he sucked at it, she saw him losing all the time and that everyone made fun of him and mocked him using him pretty much as a punching bag. She likely saw this all the time and so didn’t want her brother dueling anymore cause she saw it as him wasting his life away and that he’d never succeed in that world and so discouraged him from dueling. This is at least what I deduced from the show

[@Diamondr11Blue]

No, she didn't let him duel bc her dad asked her to protect yuma. And dueling leads to trouble!

[@hyperdreamer9483]

@@Diamondr11Blue I mean both can be true

[@takeruneverborn4740]

Well now I know what to expect in Arc V & Vrains also rush to the mix

[@Shylunar64]

Well...this was interesting. Also why the HELL did they decide to start inputting fanservice on the show that was aimed for a younger audience and not the one for the mature audience? Who thought this was a good idea?

[@christopherb501]

#TheStraightsAreNotOkay

[@riotkitty]

Cause shonen anime has fanservice for its targeted demographic: teenage boys.

[@thatoneguylegit9219]

2:31 I watched a whole hour vid about how Zexal is a spiritual successor to the OG manga, and I have a whole new appreciation for it now

[@Diamondr11Blue]

It's not. Ita a different story

[@thatoneguylegit9219]

@@Diamondr11Blue oh yeah, it just had a main character with a literal spirit guide, a best friend character with a sister that started off the series with injured eyes, a rival character with a dragon card that has special eyes and a little brother he’s willing to sacrifice everything to protect, seven special Mcguffins intrinsically tied the the MCs spiritual guide’s past and the plot of an overarching plot. The world Duel Carnival is a revamped Duelist Kingdom, even ending with the main bad being a direct threat to the rival’s little brother and also tied to one of the seven mcguffins that are connected to the spiritual guide’s past and the conclusion of the story.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@thatoneguylegit9219 you when you realize some stories can have similarities💀 differences are yuma and the cast were flushed out. You need to stop living in the past

[@thatoneguylegit9219]

@@Diamondr11Blue it’s almost like I said *spiritual* successor. No shit they had fleshed out differences, they’re different shows! Nobody’s stuck in the past, but you’re stuck in denial if you really think I’m wrong.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@thatoneguylegit9219 its not a successor. They're all unrelated spinoffs. Gx isn't either. Chill out

[@christianthrasher8677]

I've heard their was a rumor that Tori was originally going to have a much bigger role and even have a number card of her own but it was changed because of behind the scenes stuff

[@misterOrca4]

Hopefully it wasn't another Cult thing like in 5Ds.

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

Interesting, what I read was that Takahashi made some concept arts for Zexal and that Tori wasn't in his roster of characters but Anna was, if that's true in theory Tori was an idea of Studio Gallop's people. Weird that they will change anything

[@Sonadourge]

I recently just finished Sevens and I think Romin's gotta be one of the best Yugioh girls. She's the main girl that has a story, and gets good development all the way to the end. I don't recall her ever having bad moments like many other Yugioh girls do

[@brunosanto3488]

Romin also has the privilege of having the "Brainwashing" Girl's trick as part of her Character: in the sense that "Brainwashing" is not something that someone does to Romin, but that she already had it since she was little.

[@Sonadourge]

@@brunosanto3488 What part are you talking about? The only thing close to brain washing I remember is when Yuga Goha erased many people's memories

[@riotkitty]

She is really the only good character in Sevens, in my opinion

[@brunosanto3488]

@@Sonadourge Have you forgotten that Romin has a Berserker mode that occurs when she is not fed properly? In that state, Romin acts chaotically and loses all sense of herself (her will). If she is defeated or that Berserker mode is calmed, Romin regains consciousness and does not remember anything that happened. This was used by Roa in early SEVENS to force Romin to fight for him. It screams Brainwashing, but in a more Family-friendly format. In GO RUSH, Rovian also has something similar (but in GO RUSH there is proper Brainwashing, not like Romin or Rovian)

[@Sonadourge]

@@brunosanto3488 I don't remember if it messed with her memory, but I think I remember them saying that she would duel better in that mode or something

[@WarmLillie]

Zexal was my favorite series, but that's the 4-kids in me. It was funny and savage. I saw the girl as a bit of a mixed bag… The best girl is Cathy. She can duel, love Cat theme deck I wish existed. She is Tori but better and supportive and likes the rivalry. She could have done more. Tori was nice, love her design but she lacks the duel power and is boring. She was fan service back in the day when I was watching the sub welp… I can’t unsee the towel, my innocence was stolen and I became a person of culture and I was a child… Yuma's sister is cool, has great designs and, a motorcycle, and shows that people aren’t duelists. As someone who has an older sibling has is realistic. Anna had an explosive personality and loved her ride a lot. I’m taking her ride and like train deck. Yuma’s Gramma is a tough cookie… Besides that cheer and personality to bite back were cute and felt like a couple. Dextra I saw as Kite mother figure and touching that she tried to protect Kite as a debt played. Wish she butterfly deck has more to it. Rio, I saw her as beautiful and even shipped her and Yuma in the past. The barain form was cool, and badass. Love the ice theme. She was victim of the show…. ----------------- Thxs for doing Zexal you finally did it now. Horray!!! *Lillie holds Number 29 mannequin cat * I have Squid hair, I am taking the stalker… I guess the theory sorta comes true

[@HenshinFanatic]

RIP Obomi × Orbital, best ship in ZeXal.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Mother figure wth😂 they have no relationship

[@WarmLillie]

@@Diamondr11Blue Unconditional love and I didn’t know the ages, this was my headcannon when I was 10. Dextra was the older one looking out and wanting to help Kite.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

​@@WarmLillieyeah, no. A mother /kid bond must be mutual. Sorry dude she was just fawning over him and then realized his feelings were certainly not mutual. Her season 3 self dropping that act was much better for them both, I liked her best there. Someone saving you doesn't mean you must be loyal to them and vice versa. Oh and don't forget she was a bit of a staIker watching him and his med reports with hart.. unsettling

[@sandvicheatfresh]

its funny how futuristic the world is but yumas sister drives a lancia fulvia

[@Diamondr11Blue]

She has a motorcycle as well

[@christopherb501]

Yugioh's always a juxtaposition like that.

[@SenpaiYGO]

Rio needs a fully functioning supported deck for the real life game!

[@matts5164]

Her boss monsters are good, but her main deck monsters sucks.

[@demon2441]

Honestly forgot Cathy, Akari, and Droite existed. Which is sad because Droite at least seemed like she was going to go somewhere. I really liked the way her and Gauche had decks to counter Number monsters despite the battle immunity.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Cat is cool, she gets to be herself more. Kari is great she's just not a duelist and her one relationship was a bit odd but ended up with her helping the guys niece. Dextra in season 3 did better than 1 after the whole love triangles cringe

[@superstitch5618]

You know MangaKamen, not only is Anna my favorite Zexal girl/character (also my third favorite in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!), but I always find her one of the most interesting characters in the entire franchise. Mainly because, despite appearing very little “unfortunately”, she still appeared more prominently in the openings and endings, heck one of the endings is having apart of a trio with Kotori and Cathy. Also, she was the Zexal representative for the 2019 Sisters of the Rose set for her train support, she got an reference character in Arc-V in the form of Allen Kozuki, appearing more often in the Zexal world in Duel Links. And, surprisingly, in Kazuki Takahashi’s Duel Art book on his section of his Zexal concept artwork, you could see sketches of Anna there, but not any of the other female Zexal characters aside from Yuma’s mother. It’s a mystery to me if she was supposed to be Zexal’s main girl but got changed to Kotori (possibly because of the studio’s contract with Kotori’s VA according to rumors I heard). Honestly, with her over the top personality and her brief glimpse of her backstory of how she became a duelist, I do see some potential with her that unfortunately went underused. Seriously, it’s part of the reason why decided to have her as a main heroine of my potential Yu-Gi-Oh! reboot series. One of my goals for it is to give characters or groups of them that went underused from previous series like Anna or the Arcadia movement or Carly or even Yugi’s mother (since we BARELY see much of her) more of a chance to shine as characters, basically a second chance for them.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Thr only problem I had with her is she was buIIying yuma before they made up. But to be fair to yugi mom, it's not like we saw yusho or kazuma a lot either, and jaden doesn't even seem to have parents. Oh and yusei, yusaku uhh we don't talk about that

[@matts5164]

And Konami is nice enough to give her two original Numbers for her deck.

[@LonerofGaming]

As someone who really loved Rio a lot as a kid, they way used her was...yeah

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Thry underplayed quite a few but nowhere nearly as bad as gx and 5ds

[@YuzuMelodious]

Wouldn't say it was as bad as Arc V's handling of certain characters but...yeah.

[@strelitziamystery21]

For all the 4kids weirdness, making the Zexal skirts knee length was a good choice AND I think actually looks good with the artstyle (and looks better than the short skirts tbh).

[@Diamondr11Blue]

I don't see why they couldn't just give them shorts instead. It would be so much more practical when running etc

[@strelitziamystery21]

@Diamondr11Blue I agree but have you seen an anime where the girls uniform is shorts? If it's not a gym uniform it's always skirts.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@strelitziamystery21 well naruto doesn't seem to have that problem and demon slayer to a lesser degree. But then again the duelists don't always known when danger pops up and if they have to go on the run, we'll it's gonna be quite inconvenient

[@strelitziamystery21]

@Diamondr11Blue I get where you're coming from, but it's just an expected thing for the girls school outfits to be skirts in anime. Their casual outfits are a different story but still.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@strelitziamystery21 yeah. Idk much of uniform culture but I'm sure there can be an alternative just like the other animes listed above. In both, there are even guys who wear kimonos that show their legs that can also be considered uniform type clothing but alternative

[@yanyjc]

Just noticed this vid, and I'm about to start it, but before I do, I want to say something. I know that Zexal is definitely one of the most divisive in the YU GI OH series, and that there are a lot of reasons for that, but one thing I have always liked about its protagonist is that unlike the previous protagonists, he didn't start off as a master duelist, and was actually pretty bottom of the barrel before Astral came around. Then, we got to watch as with the help and advice of both Astral and all of his friends, he became more and more proficient in duels, eventually becoming just as good as Astral in his own way, and even beating him in the final episode

[@saiyanscaris6530]

beginning was slow. once the barian arc kicked it thats when it was alot more fun and serious. even in the dub kite dies from lack of oxygen cause the suit broke

[@sdbzfan1]

I mean yuya wasnt that good either, without pendulum summoning he wouldnt be half the people in the first 24 episodes, but he does get better, jaden was good but not perfect, Yusei just kept his shit together so and a real history of dueling since we dont start his story at his beginning like all the others same with Yusaku

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Yuma gang rise up

[@matts5164]

I don't think is that divisive anymore, at least compared to other series like Arc-V or Go Rush.

[@YuzuMelodious]

Yeah, that was genuinely one of the highlights of the series in a nutshell. Yuma had quite the record in taking some Ls.

[@ethansargent]

When you mentioned the older sister bit it made me think of 'Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Structures' and immediately wished it had enough girls for a 'girls of' edition like this series

[@brunosanto3488]

Ironically, I've actually seen that Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Structures also makes their Female Characters dirty.

[@Tibainium]

The girls in Zexal never really had that much potential so there isn't a case where they have been ruined like Akiza, Yuzu and Aoi. Rio is my favorite by far and I wish she woke up a lot sooner out of her coma. I hope you will do Arc-V aswell which should be a lot spicier.

[@vittoriomassaro8131]

I doubt it. Rio was straight up MC material.

[@TheWizardMus]

I kinda wish that Zexal got a third arc of number monsters that are closer to how Number F0 was made in the anime, not being a part of Astral at the point of his duel with Don Thousand but representing both the bond and growth of Yuma. I feel like if that was expanded upon we'd get a few more interesting Duels with some of the side cast, like a Duel with Cathy where she ends up creating Mannequin Cat. Anna Kaboom's deck also includes a few Number Monsters, it feels like a missed opportunity.

[@marcorodriguez8792]

I see fanservice as a nice little bonus to what I am watching. So, I actually didn't mind the fanservice in Zexal. In fact, 13 year old me definitely enjoyed it 👌

[@1CCZio]

7:06 - Worth pointing out is that Zappa Go wrote that episode and he was involved with ecchi and hentai anime before this.....yeah why does Yoshida get a lot of shit but Zappa Go gets away with this garbage? Rio stuff - It feels like Rio became a completely different character once Mizael starts showing up, it's like her dedicated episode just didn't happen at all and she just became a prop for Shark. Her becoming part of the Barians didn't really do much for her character, not helping is that she's killed shortly after just for Shark angst. Such wasted potential....

[@samuquinhaplay5708]

I think Kotori is actually a good example of a main girl not being a duelist. She contributes through her friendship with Yuma in her own way and I think her sticking to her role works to her advantage because you don't need to expect her to do anything. In regards to the other girls, I think Zexal suffers the most with its extended cast, they all get little moments to shine but no one gets enough development. I do like Merag\ Rio though, she did enough.

[@rileyanthony]

Besides them looking good the problem is that they basically don’t have a definitive character trait I really wish they could changed that but that wouldn’t happen until arc V that we called cluster F of a show

[@The4thSnake]

Little Nicky clip? Unbelievably based.

[@tmr3volver]

I actually quite like Kotori and her relationship with Yuma. Her not being an active duelist let's her focus on her strengths better.

[@chaoslacky1585]

Hope to see the Arc-V girls soon, and eventually VRAINS girls.

[@Path_To_Paradise_YT]

I think Kotori should've had a plot point with mr. Heartland Think about it, same hair and plus the fact that father and child conflict is a big focus in Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Kotori having to defeat heartland using Heartland Dragon while Yuma is gone would've been so good

[@Diamondr11Blue]

I've seen this theory before. And the fact she wears hearts too

[@YuzuMelodious]

Mr. Heartland coincidentally having two shades of green in his hair in the same show where Kotori exists and having no personal ties to her will always be funny to me. lol Would've been a neat idea, though, I'll admit. To have Kotori outta the loop with what her "dad" being Heartland is up. I can imagine Heartland being supportive of her & her mom financially but not much else.

[@mattwo7]

If you think the fanservice of early teenagers in this show is bad, Prisma Illya has a homunculus character perpetually in the body of a ten year old who had her memories of the last eight years (she's 18 in Fate Stay Night and this show takes place after the fifth Fuyuki Grail War) removed, effectively making her actually ten years old and the first two seasons were padded out with pure fanservice episodes (I have no idea if it's filler or if the manga does this too but the main plot for these two seasons has moments like this anyway so... ) featuring her, the manifestation of her repressed memories and also had all of her other memories (who you'd think would be effectively be 18 but never revived an official age. Jee, I can't imagine why not) and another ten year old girl from an alternate universe.

[@wolfnagi10]

TBF, Prillya is a night-slot show aimed for a more mature audience with some peculiar taste ala Nanoha series, while YGO Zexal is aired towards the younger demographics with an earlier airtime. Its the reason why MangaKamen mentioned 5DS rating not as high as expected and the show overall changes towards a more kid-friendly aesthetics.

[@KatsuRyu]

I love how he said bloated cast with the next series “Arc V”… I got a few bottles of moonshine ready for that train wreck… I mean series…

[@truckomatic]

errmm... actually yuma's dad actually has a dialogue with akari dont remember in wich episode he tells her that yumas dueling will bring big things and dangerous things i might be wrong but i think i am correct

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Yes you're right ! The manga goes into detail more about it but spinoff mangas are filler, but it's still the right area. You're looe the only one who's gotten this down

[@christopherb501]

​@@Diamondr11Blue*different continuities

[@coolguy5133]

Cathy was best girl! Catgirls are always top-tier.

[@ronsorage78]

His older sister needed more screen time too

[@Diamondr11Blue]

What would kari be doing 🤔 we need characters who contribute more so give an idea

[@christopherb501]

​@@Diamondr11BlueProvide an insight every now and then over where a new Number is...uncover something I their parents' work...be an additional voice for Astral to learn something from, being so close to Yuma herself...took 20 seconds of thought, come ON...

[@ronsorage78]

@@Diamondr11Blue she is literally a reporter.....how often do you ever see lois lane not in the middle of trouble for a story.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@ronsorage78 yeah ik bit this guy who wanted jer to be more ig ignored that. She already has a job, it's not like she isn't doing anything

[@SetoRelentlessCrusaderKaiba]

We watch yu-gi-oh we are more than use to the " damsel in distress " thanks to mokuba

[@MarxMayhem]

You might be pleasantly surprised with how Go Rush handles the main female lead...

[@christopherb501]

Given how uneven her development/utilization has been, we'll have to wait for the show's ending - unless they do with her what they did with Yuga - tossed how it works out. And MK will likely have not gotten to that Arc-V video - at least not to Vrains - by that point, so we've got time.

[@brunosanto3488]

The funny thing is that Female Lead is criticized for her "evil" actions (she actually hasn't done anything bad so far to be considered a villain) when AI in VRAINS also did almost the same (but with more evil actions on screen) and the latter is considered one of the best VRAINS Characters because of this Antagonist role. And this is already making comparisons, but the current season of Cardfight Vanguard has a Female Character who has the same goals as GO RUSH's Female Lead and, because of this, she became one of the most interesting Characters of that Season (even though she was being selfish with her actions). The difference is that this Female Character from Vanguard is known to be being mentally manipulated (GO RUSH's Female Lead is doing everything under her own will)

[@drakeredgrave6747]

4:13 This is arguably one of my biggest problems with her. While I don't hate her, it annoys me that she is basically in almost every scene that has yuma even when it's unnecessary/unwarranted(duel carnival coaster for one). It feels like the show wants us to like her when there is little to nothing TO like, no story, development, etc. She's is at most tolerable(imo) and for the most part, she can be removed from most scenes, and nothing would be lost...

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Tori is supoort. Not everyone duels. Even bruno from 5ds wasn't a duelist until he transformed

[@drakeredgrave6747]

@@Diamondr11Blue I'm aware. My problem is her unneeded/unwarranted moments on screen. Outside of being a cheerleader, she can be removed from most scenes with very minor re-writes. Bruno was living with 5ds and was part of the pit crew, so him being on screen a lot makes sense, and his antinomy persona was necessary to the story. If we remove the non canon arcs, Serenity was just there, but she was necessary for Joey's arc, but up until she gets her sight back, she isn't glued to Joey's hip. Tea is about as useful as Tori, but unlike Tori, she has moments where she has her moments and does stuff that is necessary(she also provided the FrIeNdShIp memes). Mokuba and Hart were necessary for Seto and Kaito's arc, respectively. By comparison, look at the scene I mentioned: the duel carnival coaster, yuma like the idiot he is(which is a bit fitting), leaves his heart pieces at home so he can't ride his coaster, so everyone of his friends rush to get and baton pass the heart and because Tori has to be RIGHT NEXT to yuma for some reason, when she hands it off she falls in. She has no reason to be there, and it can be re written to have her NOT be there(and she doesn't do anything for the coaster), and there are MANY scenarios where this applies... There are many characters that have little to no duels, but they are either interesting characters, have an arc, or are part of someone else's. They can't be written off scenes with the ease that can be done with Tori...support is fine but contribute to the story in an interesting way...

[@Monhamd1000]

Zexal girls are perfectly described as "flawed yet fun".

[@TheYamiJK]

I do love Zexal, it's the best one but I'd agree Manga and Anime, the cast size is an issue, especially the over unnecessary focus on Yuma's school friend/number hunters group and that becomes even more prevalent in season 2 because the Barian's could have really done with that extra screen time to be fleshed out some more, opposed to the group that now had no contribution what so ever as Yuma had ironically out grown them.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

No he didn't. Yuma doesn't leave his friends behind is the lesson here. He didn't even leave the barians and gave them a chance. Did you not see?

[@TheYamiJK]

@@Diamondr11Blue I think you've got abit muddled, I didn't say that. It's nothing about Yuma ditching his friends but more so the plot had surpassed their relevance, sure they could have popped up while at school or briefly after, fill the background but the story no longer needed them. Yuma's threats and dealings no longer needed them by keeping them around as much as they did, other characters suffered.

[@GamerJosh2611]

"Zexal is one of the most polarizing entries in the series" Yeah because it was the best entry and people are too afraid to admit it (only slightly joking)

[@Legacy_of_Yata-Garasu]

Yeah, it honestly is so jarring, and before you say anything about the English dub, I’ve done some research and from what I gathered it seemed as though Western fans hated Zexal before the dub ever came out. I believe that the reason for this is mainly that it came after 5D's which was seen as more adult given its tone and the age of the characters. A lot of people grew up with Yugioh and when going from 5D’s to Zexal probably turned a lot of people off.

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

​@@Legacy_of_Yata-GarasuFrom what I can tell, a big part of the reason for why people tend to dislike Zexal is because of Yuma: he's quite immature, annoying, and is a bad duelist at the start of the series; all of which make it pretty hard to get invested in him when he makes such a bad first impression. I wouldn't be surprised if there were many people that didn't give Zexal a fair shot because of this, especially since as the main protagonist, Yuma is the character that the audience is going to be following the most closely, so him being perceived as unlikable is unfortunately going to be a turn-off for a lot of fans, and his English dub voice being as high-pitched and annoying as it is does nothing to help this case. That said, the irony to this whole thing is that Yuma is actually the best part of the show, at least for me, personally: not only does he get great character development throughout the series, but his optimism is his strongest quality, and his relationship with Astral feels noticeably more fleshed out to me than what we had in the original series with Yugi and Atem. Speaking of which, the final duel of the series serves as a call-back to the original Yu-Gi-Oh, with Yuma having to duel Astral one final time, both to tie everything up, but also to show how much Yuma had grown during Zexal as both a person and as a duelist, and in my opinion it felt more earned because of how their dynamic was handled

[@matts5164]

@@Legacy_of_Yata-Garasu Is it really true now, though? From what I have seen Zexal has been received positively in the western fanbases, at least compared to series like Arc-V or Go Rush

[@brunosanto3488]

@@matts5164 Zexal has been getting some love lately, but it could be due to several factors: 1) It's a somewhat old Yu-Gi-Oh series. 2) More people have given it a chance after a long time. 3) They only do it because they don't like Rush's Animes. GX is going through something similar, but the opposite: it used to be very loved and now the West looks at it with bad eyes (the nostalgia glasses are no longer there) As for Rush's Animes, SEVENS is going through its Redemption Arc from what I've seen: I mean, now I see more people appreciating its good and strong points that were previously hated or criticized (highlighting its uniqueness compared to other Yu-Gi-Oh series) But... before that? For the West, Zexal and SEVENS killed Yu-Gi-Oh. The West seems to only like DM, 5Ds and VRAINS, there are many people defending or saying that VRAINS is better than Zexal.

[@vittoriomassaro8131]

There are only two reactions to watching Zexal: -"wow! This stuff is so peak!" -"i'm gonna KMS rather that watch another second of this bs!"

[@guylinerr482]

saved this to my watch later SO fast. zexal is my absolute favorite yugioh spinoff, but . man .

[@reddragon9064]

19:00. The cops saying watch out for his hair is Hilarious to me. The show is acknowledging how ridiculous the protags hair is

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Rarely does this happen tho ig due to it being normal for them?. Out of all the shows, I only remember zexal and arc v acknowledging any kind of odd notable appearances on a few occasions. It's strange to think about

[@legendarycryptid2629]

Honestly, I feel like part of your dislike for Yuma (outside his design which I actually do like, and his ZeXal forms are great for me) comes from just how the dub handled him. Yeah, he's not that bright, but it feels like the dub really dumbs him down more.

[@esteban8471]

Judai suffered from this too. The dub makes him look like an idiot a lot of the time, when in the sub he's just lazy. Even in season 4, the reason he skips class is because he doesn't care anymore.

[@legendarycryptid2629]

@@esteban8471 I mean, there was some entertainment with the dub, so I was never put off, but ironically that makes the "Slifer Slacker" name the dub put out actually make sense if it's just laziness on Judai's part.

[@ska187]

Yuma is more like Joey than Yugi or judai. He was a novice. Then he slowly becomes stronger and more intelligent with his plays to where he can tap into his protag powers on his own to create his own number with F0 by the end.

[@sdbzfan1]

​@@esteban8471 yea but jaden sounds good in english where yuma doesnt

[@HenshinFanatic]

​@@ska187 Future Numbers 0: Mirai-oh Hope.

[@LunaTheUmbreon322]

Honestly…. I’m honestly hyped to seee how you talk about Serena in arc v, as I hate how she ended up….

[@WaterKirby1994]

Yuzu could have been argued as being set up as the lead protagonist & their fate was shared as being replaced by the Mokuba of the series for the climax. Yuzu vs Zarc was possibly predicted in the 2nd Episode.

[@drakeredgrave6747]

We are so close to arc v and vrains , two shows the absolute BUTCHERED the female leads around as much as Aki and Asuka...can't wait to hear Kamen talk about them...eventually...

[@saiyanscaris6530]

arc v did it waaaaay worse

[@drakeredgrave6747]

@@saiyanscaris6530 for sure

[@HenshinFanatic]

​@@saiyanscaris6530 Arc-V had female characters besides Yuya's mom? That's weird, I only remember plot devices.

[@9872efr]

That's rather insulting to Aki. At least Aki managed to actually be active by the end and her efforts were actually useful.

[@drakeredgrave6747]

@@9872efr yes but post season 1 and prior to the finale she was done dirty...I mean, when the OP(or ED, idr) calls her the bench warmer you know the fucked up...

[@KevinTheSoftwareTester]

Looking forward to your analysis of Yuzu and Aoi

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Idc for zuzu.. lulu was cool. Blue angel? I prefer ghost lady but she's cool too

[@darkwolf9637]

Exited for the arc v video Yoko is definitely an underated yugioh waifu (and is also one of the few adults)

[@christopherb501]

Weirdly, is Arc-V the only entry where a mother character even HAS a name...?

[@Diamondr11Blue]

​@@christopherb501uh mimi. Zexal has mira

[@darksoulrdw]

Can we please get a ARC-V video?

[@christopherb501]

Gotta get 2200 more likes.

[@Magna_Dragon]

ARC-V will be an hour total at least for sure Kotori's VA actually play Yu-gi-oh, and has voicelines for the cards she used in RL in the games (at least some of them) Bracelet girls' issues, director bias issues (one director was flamed in twitter to not touch Yu-gi-oh anime again). It should be fun to watch

[@Diamondr11Blue]

What bias. Everyone got done oddly

[@christopherb501]

​​@@Diamondr11BlueThe Bracelet Girls still had it worst.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@christopherb501 nope. Bastion was literally erased from the cast

[@WaterKirby1994]

Bastion had that problem of diminishing role throughout GX. Also which Kotori VA? Agreed Yuzu was literally being set up early on to become a secondary protagonist to Yuya & possibly the person who was supposed to defeat Zarc then she got completely cheated during Fusion Dimension Arc when all 4 Bracelet girls were sacrificed & her role was given to the Mokuba of Arc-V.

[@melindaphantom9450]

Zexal is honestly one of my favourite spin offs and I do like the characters, Kotori is one of my comfort characters I just like that she always supports Yuma the world needs more Kotori's, Rio I thought was a fun character when she was around and Droite I genuinely think was a good character one of my favourites from the first season, but being a shonen none of it is perfect and that's mostly fine but kinda sucks, but also alot of the flaws and problems mentioned are largely why I quit watching anime, bad writing and messed up content

[@Shadow-dj6kt]

I never really understood why peopel didn't like zexal. Even when explained

[@Diamondr11Blue]

They don't like it bc they didn't give it a chance

[@randomedgygamer2191]

because its full of shitty characters and 80%of the show is extremely predictable and boring.

[@WaterKirby1994]

If you started Yugioh as a kid in 2000, you would have been a teenager or young adult by the point 5Ds ended. English Dub skipping 5Ds episodes in addition to failing promises to go back & dub GX Season 4 made Zexal seem insulting to long term fans. Also Yugioh was always much more popular Stateside than it was in Japan strangely enough. 20 Years ago it was more popular than One Piece in the US thanks to showing alongside Pokemon on Kids WB & Cartoon Network.

[@pickyphysicsstudent201]

As much as I enjoyed Zexel, it is the point in the series where everything became far more "ANIME". The character designs and the tropes, in particular. DM-5Ds weren't completely normal but it struck the right balance. Most of the hair colours were blonde, black, brown or white. Even if you had a few people with blue, pink or red hair, its normally a single colour and shape. Mostly muted colour palletes, as well. It may not seem like much but it grounds the story in a way which makes the confrontations meaningful. Xenoblade Chronicles, No More Heroes and Fire Emblem Three Houses comes to mind. They're anime but they deal with real world issue and relatable character drama, which can be done because people look (more or less) like normal people. Compare it to XC2, NMH2 or FE Engage. You have cat girl robot maids, giant mech fights and I couldn't finish Engage to comment on it.

[@brunosanto3488]

The funny thing is that Fire Emblem Three Houses also falls into being unrealistic when you see the Enemy Side using Mechas or Nuclear Weapons in a Medieval Environment.

[@Voltackle86]

Tori is absolutely fine. She may not be as exciting as other female protagonist, but she plays her role as Yuma's support(major support) beautifully. I like the fact that she doesn't duel and is still brave to hang with Yuma during dangerous situations while keeping Yuma in check. Like when she smacked the hell outta him when he became too emotional and couldn't bring himself out of it lol. She's great imo.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

You don't gotta smack ppl to get them to listen.. mhm zuzu

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

Sure she's flawed in a lot of places, but I still think that Cathy is the best girl of Zexal. Also, fun fact: Volume 3 of the manga was my first piece of Yu-Gi-Oh media. I wasn't that interested in the game itself.

[@NavyBlueDude]

Rio is my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Girl. I liked her hair, her deck was interesting, and she helps flesh out the later seasons of Zexal when she gets involved in the plot.

[@bakuraryu7773]

Yo gotta love how kamen used the dialogue from the anime as voices for us

[@stefanodellonte1813]

Short version Kotori is just a cheerlearder Rio is either in a coma, loses, gets possesed or dies

[@princetonwilliams9522]

I enjoyed that sooo much, ok ya, let’s get those likes up so he can continue the series

[@marinhaalternativa3829]

Oh boy, can't wait for the Arc5... Well to be honest Arc5 is a whole can of worms, the video will just be the tip of the iceberg.

[@Heroduothecomedian]

I love red heads, i love trains, and yugioh. Anna is my waifu and the only time I would mess with crazy if I could lol

[@gemraldkid6304]

The manga had some other notable female characters. Luna was a bit forgettable to me, but I really liked (Princess) Cologne. She may not do much outside of her mini-arc, but the duel was entertaining and her character was fairly interesting. Plus, I just love how Yuma invites her to live in his attic because she has nowhere to go. She’s not even a love interest, simply a grateful friend that he made along the way. I know the manga had a shorter story anyway (and therefore less time to spend on side stuff), but man I’d love to see her duel again.

[@mattwo7]

17:24 RIP Yuamu and Yuhi.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Who is yuhi

[@raikonzero]

The names of the sister and brother MCs from Yu-Gi-Oh Go Rush, because Kamen was talking about MC siblings and didn't include them, but they were made by a different company who actually treat their female characters better.

[@mattwo7]

@@raikonzero And yet Kamen has expressed his distaste towards Sevens a couple times in recent videos. It certainly did take a while to become legitimately good (with the Goha 6th Elementary arc, which was the third arc) to be sure but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as Zexal (and Yuga's English dub voice is actually tolerable, though Gakuto/Gavin's English dub voice was horribly miscast).

[@brunosanto3488]

@@mattwo7 I would say that SEVENS becomes interesting or appealing to people when the Nail Arc begins, specifically the first appearance of the first Maximum Summon. With GO RUSH, it is much slower than SEVENS, but it takes an interesting and curious turn to see in The Luge Arc, especially with several events that happen there. The good thing about both is that you only need to pass the first 30 Episodes to determine if you want to continue watching the series or not.

[@brunosanto3488]

@@raikonzero Interestingly, Yuhi and Yuamu are what Syrus, Leo, and Luna would have wished to be. - Yuhi: Comic relief who becomes competent at Duels as the series progresses, as well as learning to mature or be smarter or reason better about things. - Yuamu: Smart sister who is skilled at Duels who contributes to the Plot, learns to value her brother more, and begins to care for others in a sentimental way.

[@Namkcaws]

I'VE WAITED 1000000000000 GAHDAMN YEARS FOR THIS VID LMAO; LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH of ZeXal's supportive cast was underutilized gdi.....not JUST the female half of it - it's just that it was more noticeable. Wish Cathy had more wins, and I STILL want her cards irl.....at least they're in DL and are surprisingly very playable.

[@MG-xs6kq]

Let´s get those 5k likes!

[@milesstorzillo7650]

It's so weird that the show that's most aimed towards children pre Rush also has the most fanservice. Like, seriously, did they ever think about this?

[@brunosanto3488]

The ironic thing is that Rush's Animes don't give as much fanservice as one would think. Even in GO RUSH, with Female Characters worthy of Waifu category, they don't have as much fanservice as Gallop's Yu-Gi-Oh did with GX, 5Ds or Zexal.

[@riotkitty]

I’ll like the video, so you can get to Vrains. And do a special edition with it where you talk about Go Onizuka and Aoi Zaizen. Seriously at least Aoi does something, Go just gets addicted to digital Ignis juice and that’s the extent of his character. Most screwed over Yugioh character in my opinion. I wanted him and Yusaku to be bros so bad 🥲

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Bakura, bastion, sylvio etc have been messed over too. Even declan and aster

[@vulcankhionethedigielite2356]

I love this series that you make it.

[@monikhadka]

"The problem with yugioh girls" there's only two words to describe the problem The Internet

[@DevilManthehero7786]

Amazing job

[@neostardustdragon1018]

The fact Kotori puts her up on my list for the fact SHE ACTUALLY CONFESSED TO HER MC LOVE INTEREST! Seriously you can give Yuma the girl but not Yusei and Aki after everything! Seriously! Seriously!

[@alicepbg2042]

there's a lot to say about the arc V girls indeed... mostly because you will mostly talk about the same one... kinda.

[@w1nther930]

I would honestly really be interested in a video about Aoi Zaizen and her many personas of blue angel, Blue girl, and blue maiden. She went through freaking 3 identity swaps along the series. Vrains is such a fun anime to me, because it's basicly a yugioh SAO, with AI's as the sort of antagonists, but not antagonists (Revovler, Playmaker, and Soulburner also have good stories to make a video on). Still, at the time, i found Aoi Zaizen more enjoyable than the rest (except Aki since she is litterally the best written one). She had a lot of good potential that was ruined with other characters. Asuka was supposed to be the strong girl duelist, but lacked any sort of character development or depth. Rio was in the direction of Aoi in my opinion, but still failed to really establish on being her own character rather than being there for Shark's development. Aoi was given a lot of developments... some better than others (Depending on how you view it, her getting the water Ignis because she had a childhood friend who was a lost incident victim was more of a push to her relavancy, and could be argued to be forced, but I still like how she matured more after getting Aqua)

[@SpiritKitten]

I can't wait for to get to the next season, Arc-V. More characters and the first time I was actually invested in the budding romance between Yuya and Yuzu...too bad the series completely f***d it up😢

[@VoidtoScream]

Zexal is one of my favorite yugioh series from start to finish. it and DM are the only ones that don't *feel* like they stumbled the plot at any point. and for the girls specifically, yeah it's pretty much the only one they at least kept the character traits consistent

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Dm problems, zexal fixes

[@KTR_ProrataEevee]

6:16 I dunno what was going on during the mid 2000s-early 2010s, but why were there so many of these... design issues common with japanese anime's for 13 and under (Dawn from the Pokémon anime is another... example)

[@creativeboundaries126]

Arc-V is a poster child for the problem with Yugioh Girls so that will be a video when we get there

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Arc v and gx had problems with their casts no matter who it wasn't. Bastion and declan who were geniuses were tossed to the side. Sylvio who had more development than yuya also was cIowned on for no reason

[@christopherb501]

​@@Diamondr11BlueWe're talking about sexism here. Yes, plenty of dudes have been tossed to the side that shouldn't have been, but way more chicks have been, in raw numbers and proportionately, to the point you have to struggle to think of ONE that was utilized well, in nearly a thousand episodes of TV. That's not good.

[@christopherb501]

What works like Avengers200 are for showcasing everything *wrong* in ongoing comic media, so the Arc-V anime is for showcasing everything *wrong* with shonen. Especially the sexism.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@christopherb501 yeah, no. It's a side character problem. Even yugi himself was barely used, atem was pushed forward. Stop making it a competition my guy

[@Diamondr11Blue]

@@christopherb501 stop making excuses. It's easy to whlne and put a label on anything. Just like your fab character didn't make it big doesn't mean they're not liked

[@Zetact_]

Yu-Gi-Oh has always had a problem of underusing their secondary cast... Until Bridge.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Not really. Gx and dm yes. 5ds has notable players like crow and kalin. Zexal has the photon users and arclights. Arc v and vrains go down a bit

[@brunosanto3488]

@@Diamondr11Blue The problem with 5Ds is that it leaves aside the other Signers (who, in theory, should be a Team) to focus only on Yusei, Crow and Jack. Leo, Luna and Aki have little to do after Dark Signers (but at least they do something) ZEXAL, while it has Secondary Characters supporting, the main focus goes to Yuma, Shark and Kaito, at least the most important or exciting Duels. As for Mizar, he was an Antagonist at the time, so it made sense for him to be relevant (I mean, there are no other relevant Barians except for Nash, Vector and maybe Marin)

[@commonviewer2488]

Oops, All Téas Except Téa at least won a duel in her life

[@Toxiking32]

Whats hilarious is toris deck from the game is actually really good for the time. Halls of Valhalla high level fairies

[@YuzuMelodious]

Even her Japanese voice actress played it.

[@Lunacorva]

When it comes to Kotori, I agree with Kamen a lot. She's a support character and she's probably the best character within that role. When ZeXal is trapped in the sphere field cannon, she's the only one of the group to head straight to heartland tower. She keeps Shark and Kaito from bickering, is the one to figure out a way to find Yuma and figures a way to shut down the O-bots. Not to mention fighting them alongside Shark, Kaito and Orbital. She's consistently helpful. The only thing she doesn't do is duel, and I don't really see that as a flaw. Not everyone has to be a duelist. I have mixed feelings comparing her to a character like Aki. As Kamen says, she never shows the potential Aki or Yuzu had, but in doing so, she never dissapoints like they did. And as for the fanservice. I try to ignore that and don't hold it against her. It's not the character's fault where the camera is pointing and those scenes don't define her. Rio's a persona favourite of mine. I love mer design as Merag, her duel with Vector was well done and made her look like a badass at multiple points and was genuinely sad at the end, she actually AVOIDED being fridged and her overall character was a lot of fun. BUT. Everything Kamen says is absolutely accurate.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

We have other supports who are just less frequent. Remember the portal to Astral world and who saved the main trio?

[@Lunacorva]

​@@Diamondr11Blue You are correct. I should say: "Best major female character taking a supportive role" I was thinking support in the practical sense, as in "Supportive person"

[@Eric6761]

Tori exists in a vacuum where she has personality enough to exist and not annoy anyone but could just as easily be substituted for another character with more potential

[@Lunacorva]

@@Eric6761 That I would disagree on. Even if you made Rio more of a consistent badass or gender swapped Shark or Kaito to have Yugioh's first badass lady, Kotori would still have value and contribution as a character.

[@CarrietheMelodiousGamer]

Maybe in Anna's introduction episode instead of dueling Yuma, she duels Kotori/Tori who does have a WDC heart piece cause everyone else in the friend joins, but Anna wins, although Tori does both put up a good fight and tells Anna about her mistake. I know that does hurt Tori's character, but it would explain how Anna got into the carnival when she just hears about after the duel and gets permission from Nistro and Droite to join the carnival. For Cathy maybe she wins her WDC duel, but gives up her heart piece after both girls talk during the duel.

[@KudaGeatsune3821]

Honestly i feel like zexal had some cast bloat issues it was fun but it felt like there could've been slightly more

[@otterfire4712]

Cast bloat died once you got towards the end, it narrowed to like 10 characters.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

​@@otterfire4712well you gotta consider it narrowed down to multiple factions during the later seasons due to others being weak to compete. Yuma and Astral gang, The photon users, arclight family, and the barians were doing the heavy hitting. The side smaller characters couldn't keep up but were still supportive

[@XxhugogachaxXD4543]

It’s finally here…

[@christopherb501]

So torn on Zexal's female cast. On the one hand, like you said Mr. Kamen, the biggest problem is the lack of utilization. On the other hand, every time before and after this Gallop actually tried, the women only sened to wind up *worse* off than if they had remained stagnant, and it stings all the worse. Considering how many times they _did_ wind up trying and yet always failed, I'm genuinely inclined to try and remain content with what we got, because as we all know, it could have been SO much worse.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Lots of cast were underused. Ahem gx

[@christopherb501]

​@@Diamondr11Blue Soooo...we're on the same page...?

[@Diamondr11Blue]

​@@christopherb501 sure why not. But the broadest spectrum is side characters in particular. Look what they did with declan and luna, who was supposed to be a prodigy. Riley and bastion too

[@christopherb501]

​@@Diamondr11Blue This doesn't mean that it isn't worth noting that while this does happen to male characters in spades, it happens to ALL the women of Gallop, no matter HOW significant they are. Heck, in the next one, they had the least excuses to f*&₩ this up given the premise, and yet it failed the 'sexy lamp' test harder than ANYTHING I've ever seen.

[@WaterKirby1994]

Season 1 of Arc V made it seem like Yuzu could have been set up as the lead protagonist. Season 3 kills her off & replaces her with the series equivalent of Mokuba at the climax.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Misaki from Vanguard is super strong with and she has an eidatic memory