Yu-Gi-Oh's Perfect Filler Arc | Return To Waking The Dragons

[@depressedkermit5337]

Season 4 of Duel Monsters one of my favourite “filler” arcs in anime period. It gave so much character development for Atem.

[@underdogchris1753]

Yeah this season was goated as hell and so emotional. I know people in anime usually write off filler as something bad but honestly this an example of one of the better filler arcs

[@youceeme]

First Battle between Yugi and Rafael that makes Yugi lose is perfectly written 👍

[@ACoffeeFan238]

You could consider it anime canon. Since the manga and anime are slightly different and only get more different as time goes on you could use the dragon ball super logic where stuff in the anime is canon to the anime and the manga is also canon but it is its own separate timeline/universe and the 2 have no influence on each other, only sharing certain events in common while other events are vastly different.

[@richardcarter123]

The best thing about the yugioh show was that nothing ever felt like filler to me there's always action of some kind

[@dominiquepettway9164]

Waking the dragons was probably my favorite arc, the stakes were really high and the animation was probably at its best. Dartz was honestly the most memorable and scariest villain the series has had

[@WOAHSKE]

facts

[@reloadpsi]

I remember going into this season hearing of it as "the one nobody liked" and being pleasantly surprised with how good it was.

[@AceTheSkylord]

When it first aired I was not a fan whatsoever, I thought it was fanfictionny (actually, there's something *more* ancient and mystical than the Millenium Items) and a strange detour But when I rewatched it in 2020 during Covid, I was surprised at how well written it was and how every main character experienced growth (still a bit fanfictionny but I'm willing to overlook it now)

[@sougotokiwa8439]

Agreed. This was good filler. And Virtual World for Kaiba.

[@Mooki66]

Yugi vs Rafael Round 1 arguably being the best duel in the series is crazy

[@veronicapiccinini7956]

The perfect definition of “Greek Tragedy”. A Greek tragedy is a tale where the main character (who they usually start as heroic figures) of the story meets their ruin, because they become corrupted by their own flaws (90% of the stories it’s “hubris, excessive pride”)

[@gagerushing2364]

I beg to differ, ask Valon about that duel with Joey

[@XenoxGOWGODOFWINTER]

All three of the main Characters duels were epic especially Kaiba's

[@polygonail1978]

Shin Yoshida is the GOAT. Every season he writes is always memorable.

[@Goldjade14]

This season seriously kicked ass!! It added little more in depth of where Mai was at after season 3. Joey dueling skills were off the chart cause we see him in a way be one of the main hero since him and kaiba were the chosen duelist to take on dartz. Like damn seeing the 3 legendary dragons being used in different fusions always looked epic. My fav moment I can’t stop thinking about was seeing the dragons being resurrected as their original as knights ! Which resemble pharaoh , Joey and Kaiba . That moment was too damn badass and awesome !

[@veronicapiccinini7956]

The best filler arc in an anime ever! It has everything I wanted. Dragons, a legendary culture, a “Mary Sue” finally screwing up big time with only them being the one to blame, sacrifice (which by the way, I found tragic yet poetic that the mangaka himself died in an heroic sacrifice, because he hold his ideals and moral values until the very end).

[@minicle426]

You ever notice how Dark Magician Girl gets a bigger role in filler arcs? 🤔

[@Limezzart11222]

"DORO MONSTA KADO!"

[@Stefan_Gerards]

HA NA SAY!!!

[@shawnowen3488]

Loved yugioh alot please loved to see more awesome yugioh dvds made soon

[@GabeNwagbala]

Kid's WB! Had promoted the 2nd ½ called Duel Of Lost Souls!😊

[@R0B5e55or001]

Your explanation is on point. This is probably an unpopular opinion, but this is a pretty good arc, I don't even care if it's whether or not a filler. It adds with great drama, and to see a very interesting side to Pharaoh Atem's inner darkness as if his pride of not wanting to lose in competition (unlike everyone who were used to losing even if it hurts them) was his downfall. It makes sense that not everybody is perfect, so most of the mankind can give in to the corruption of their darkness. I enjoy watching Atem develop emotions, and to own up his fatal mistakes. It's awesome seeing him to be his own character without Yugi by his side for awhile, and that he's the only Yami who has (unlike Yami Bakura and Yami Marik who were pure evils) his own good and kind side even if it doesn't have to be Yugi who had to keep him balanced with pure side. From episodes Fate of the Pharoah up to Reliving the Past makes me nearly tear up for Pharoah Atem, and damn, I'm honestly surprised Dan Green didn't get an award for his amazing voice acting performance in this arc.

[@WOAHSKE]

well said, appreciate it

[@edmo1450]

i enjoyed the Fight Joey had vs that guy with armor cards. That ish was soo dope and THEN he had to duel Mai. that was insane.

[@thomas2082]

The love triangle between joey mai and vallon is great it brought the story of the series to a more adult audience

[@WOAHSKE]

That makes sense, I had stuff for them and amelda but vid got long

[@buddyzilla4557]

There is also the fact that this takes place just before Millenium World. While there are other shadow games and entities capeable of making them happen, Dartz is spot on about the Pharoah being a threat or darkness. Zorc is from the dark dimension and brought his wicked magic with him over when the millenium ritual was done. The items and magics Yami uses are made through and powered by Zorc's own dark magic. Further, he was trapped in the pendent along with the spirit of Atem as a sarfice to stop the Demon but now that Atem is free and pieces of Zorcs soul he was unaware of existed outside the main being are gaining power, the demon is close to being set free. The reason the Pharoah is involved in these shadow games and why they are increasing in number is because the influence of Zorc is growing and he is about to make his escape from the puzzle. Dartz doesn't nessisarily know about Zorc or that Yami has a chance to stop him agian..just that a powerful Darkness that threatens the whole world is emanating from Yami..specifically the Puzzle he also resides in. One more filler arc later, Yami would face off against the true Source of this and finally stop it for good...mostly. we do see other dark (and light) entities that rival Zorc later on in the series and even find some were a threat long before his time but he was the one Dartz would currently recognize eminent and remember from the past as well. Darts would have run into Yami before the Millenium worked events occured in the past so that he saw the Pharoahs own dark dueling powers and knew a conflict caused the near fall of his kingdom. Even the the tombkeepers are unaware exactly what happened and are under the impression it was a battle between the Pharoah and high priests that was the focus of his fall. Dartz..was kind of right on this specific front..he was also wrong because it was Zorc and rhe Pahroah was ultimatly able to overcome his influence but it is an understandable mistake all things considered. Being a sociopathic, manipulative nilist who wants to play God..not so much.

[@JConnel]

This shit was fire breh. You deserve 1000x more subs.

[@WOAHSKE]

thank you chief 😁

[@JewishKeto]

Rafael is right… we are all capable of doing evil and I think if Pharaoh didn’t play the seal and lose Yugi.. he never would have learned anything.

[@baylaust]

I know Yugi vs Rafael is an iconic duel, but I've always had trouble getting around my biggest issue with it: Its pointless. There is no reason for that duel to happen. Nothing is at stake. Nothing changes if Yugi loses that duel. Even if Yugi lost normally, its not like that proves Rafael right or anything. The only reason it has consequences is because Yugi chooses to use the Seal of Orichalcos. Which at this point, aftet being witness to and a participant of so many duels where someone's life or soul is on the line, makes it feel wildly out of character for him to willfully bring those stakes into a duel by his own hand when nothing is on the line. Exploring Yugi's dark side and his need to win at all costs is a great hook for a story. But I feel like this would have worked much better if there was something on the line, something that would make him desperate enough to use the Seal Of Orichalcos outside of... losing a card game.

[@ThePrincessCH]

It's sort of reminiscent of the duel he had with Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom. He was so desperate to win that he was willing to do anything, even killing Kaiba. Granted, his duel with Kaiba had more stakes with Pegasus holding Mokuba and Yugi's grandfather hostage but in both duels, the one who was trying to stop him from succumbing to his urge to win was the original Yugi, and in both situations he practically had to push his other self to stop it, which says a lot about how far the Pharaoh is willing to go for a victory.

[@Roger-il8iw]

People always call it filler because it wasn’t in the manga. But it’s really not. It’s added content that the creators worked on. It was a very well planned arc, and led into the final arc very well.

[@lindsayjakekangaroomouse]

I Love Season 4 of Yugioh and the Seal of Orichalcos that came with it

[@clasher138]

it's theme song was epic as hell too.

[@LaxusRenji]

A top 5 favorite anime arc for me and my favorite arc in the original Yugioh.

[@WOAHSKE]

awesome

[@randomedgygamer2191]

Favourite, best written and most memorable part of the original series. For me its not filler, it comes close to the 5ds Dark signer ark imo.

[@Aziah32]

Why they Got my boy Atem looking like the rapper killer Bee from naruto 😂 0:35

[@muchachoaventurero3590]

I once hated this arc. It was too stupid and too long. With little kuriboh I learned how to laught at it in a very good and healthy way. Nowdays.... I love it. The animation is quite good but the artstyle is freaking insane. The deck builds were so creative and unique. So cool, man. Maybe... it could be a bit shorter ngl.

[@ethanbaker3394]

As long as Atem has his great/ 5000 years later grandson Atem will live in the mordern age that is good and why power with come to ignite.

[@themagstory3373]

Great job. Keep going.

[@WOAHSKE]

thanks, will do

[@Dylan-x7q]

I actually didn't know waking the dragon was filler it is that good.

[@ethanbaker3394]

Ya I is more than a father figure he is actually yugioh long time past great grandfather

[@cherrylk4188]

Season 4 is probably my favorite season too, but "perfect" is crazy. It's filled with so many weirdly fortuitous plot moments. Yugi and tea get into a train crash and are completely unharmed. They land conveniently right by Dartz's family who happen to live a short walk from a magical canyon for talking to the dead. And Weevil, who was also in that train crash, has his body left and forgotten about in the wreckage. The "Draw monster cardo" moment is iconic and 10/10, but it's immediately followed by ridiculous writing like this.

[@WOAHSKE]

Yeah easily overlooked practical errors isn't so much what I'm concerned about in a show like this, Ik some channels make a living off logic checking shows, but I find that usually quite goofy im more concerned with the core narrative, "Perfect" is compelling for a title, im not trying to suggest that in some absolute sense but in contrast to other seasons that are already quite good and for it being filler which is ordinarily outright inferior content I think it warrants a pretty bold description. thanks for sharing

[@darkglass3011]

I would say that this season was good, but not perfect. The reason being that the writing for Yami Yugi didn't make any sense. It was as if the development he went through from the beggining up to the end of Battle City didn't happen. Even in the Duel Kingdom arc, he learned that winning isn't everything and that there were some things that were more important. At the time Yugi's grandfather was held hostage, but the same doesn't apply to his Duel when he played the Seal of Orichalcos. There was nothing at stake, and if he lost, there would have been no consequences. The moment he played that Field card was when he unnecessarily put both people's lives at risk, all just so that he wouldn't lose. That is not character progression. It's character regression and it didn't make any sense. It's nothing like Vegeta's character arc in Dragon Ball Z.

[@justinsinger2505]

I’d argue there wasn’t exactly a closure to their argument in DK. They basically said well Yami I shouldn’t hold you back. I should trust you to make the right decisions. Yes that works. But I think Yami going all out after having so many slews of wins from battle city. I think alot of Yami’s pride went to his head. i see it as Yami took his control over yugi to far and when it cost yugi. Their duel at the canyon is the conclusion to this part of Yami. And i’d argue the duel with Dartz solidifies Yami as a good guy with all that’s left to do is reclaim his memories.

[@darkglass3011]

@@justinsinger2505 There's consistent character progression in the canon arcs. There isn't with this filler one. It was just inserted in there to create drama for Yami Yugi. Yugi allowed Yami Yugi to take the pilot seat after the Kaiba incident at Duelist Kingdom because Yami Yugi EARNED it. He already learned his lesson which is why Yugi trusted him again after that incident. The Orichalcos arc is the equivalent of Capsule Monsters when it comes to Yami Yugi's character where it ignored what actually happened prior to it.

[@ThePrincessCH]

I think it's partly meant to tie in to his character in season 0.

[@PoohKalonji_97]

I thought the Noah arc was just as good too I love the deck master idea

[@WOAHSKE]

I’m doubtful but since people have mentioned this arc a bunch I’ll probly check it out

[@buddyzilla4557]

I'm a little confused..toward the end you went a little way too flowery and fast with your speech and it got hard to understand exactly what you were talking about. It SEEMS like you were discussing Yami being "reincarnated" every time he fails thanks to Yugi acting as a spiritual light to drive him but it got every unclear with the metaphors and you kept showing an image of Dartz so I was lost on who yoy were talking about and exactly what was being refrenced metaphorically or not. It did pique my interest since it felt very simalr to the concepts we would explore in GX. There is an entity that is the physical manifestation of light in the universe that acts as a force of destruction and its counterpart, the gentle darkness. Neither is evil or good but nessisary forces of nature that can be perceived as either based on their unchecked acts. Balance is required. While the LoD is pure energy, tGD takes a mortal form and reincarnates repeatedly throughout time within his own family line. The Supreme King was the orgional vessel but Jaden would be his dependent and the next form. An entity of dark that surfaces to save the world form the darkness, reincarnated withing a vessel as long as a form of it exists for him to do so..sounds the same as what you described but revering the roles of light and dark. It's just hard to know..I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound mean but you REALLY need to learn to slow it down and take a breath between thoughts when doing these. It's clear you want to sound poetic and are excited but it's all for not if your audiences is left overwhelmed and unsure what they just heard, right? Also maybe do a better job of the images..they don't help much with what you are saying and only distract more with the subtitle text. Again..you showed both Yami and Darts while describing a scene that I felt was metaphorically interpreting what Yami was suppsoed to be feeling but it COULD have also been Dartz..I don't know now. The imagry seems disjointed a lot of the time and still frames hang round for multiple thoughts while you speed demon through so I'm unsure which ones were supposed to coordinate, if any.

[@mexicantakeout2192]

tldr?

[@kunik61]

It feels like a canon

[@piratekingluffy1148]

wait how is this filler isn't the manga completely different compared to the anime of all the yugioh shows or am i wrong most of dark magician support cards came from this arc and literally are used in the tcg and ocg a lot because for example pegasus is in gx anime and in the manga he died from Bakura. and in gx manga they use different monsters i think all mangas do. so in other words this isnt canon and yugi never really lost to this guy other to kaiba at duelist kingdom which to this day which i consider with Kaiba threatening to end his life little yugi stopped the duel not atem.

[@slicerneons3300]

It is a sore spot that Mai's English voice changed. When I first watched it, I thought she was an imposter because she sounded different. Then she disappeared and her character was unresolved. Otherwise I really liked it, apart from the kid friendly.censorship of the 4kids dub.

[@iamthehobo]

You talk so fast but you also have some really good shit to say. I'm on board

[@WOAHSKE]

appreciate it, welcome. keepin the pace on my radar thanks.

[@codyfaile535]

♾️+1

[@bong_thong]

Lol how the heck is this a filler arc?

[@ThePrincessCH]

It wasn't in the original manga.

[@danin95626]

Didn’t know yugi was a Christian

[@WOAHSKE]

I wouldn’t say that’s a canon fact but there is a lot of parallel yeah, in the last season the dynamic between atem and bakura feels like a Jesus vs anti christ conflict

[@victoresquivel1735]

Make you kind of wonder why every villain in Yu-Gi-Oh wanted his Yami power. Even when that one part when Noah try to possessed Yami. And failed.Noah what the heck are you're not like the other.

[@RollingWithNat20]

bummer story

[@Not_cee]

Noahs ark is better

[@ssjgotenks2009]

it,not,filler,ita,canon.yugioh,i,a,mutlvure,the.5d,maker.saud,.animei,is.,fullyc,canon