The Lord of the Cards: The Return of the Pharaoh
Haven't seen this since it first released in cinemas when I was 9. I wish I still had the Obelisk card from then, but all 3 (for myself and my brothers) were destroyed by washing machine (I did not know what a card sleeve was anyway).
Over 8 years later DSOD is even better than I remember. It makes me so genuinely happy to see these characters and this game so colourful and beautiful again. Diva and the Plana develop some fun new lore for the Millennium items and fill a big Marik-shaped hole in my heart. I hope eventually Konami will return to this, perhaps even creating a new series with the classic DM characters playing the modern game. Have Joey bring the aged up characters back into the game to teach them how it's changed, let the characters explore fun new decks as they release in the card game, make the Gods META! (Yami Marik structure deck please...) Plus Kaiba's journey in this film is so cool and I think we all need more of him.
The current direction of the series is honestly quite disappointing, with the Rush Duel animes deciding to go for a fresh younger audience and barely getting any English release (especially with Rush Duels being locked to Duel Links) and The Chronicles farting out a nothing-burger short every so often. I've certainly complained about the card game before but even so it still brings me excitement and there's still so many opportunities to explore if Konami stops being afraid to spend some pachinko money. I'd give so much to bring back the momentum from when this film released, I want to see more games, formats, anime series, merch and anything and everything experimental with DM. Call me a YugiBoomer but I'm three standard deviations younger than the mean age of players and at least I enjoy the game still. I hate seeing this franchise, which was my childhood and still makes me so happy, being forgotten and locked up in the comfort zone.
Even if none of my hopes for Yu-Gi-Oh realise (which, given Konami, wouldn't be unlikely) I know I can always come back to this film to enjoy this world again. Thank you to Kazuki Takahashi for all that you've built.
The Lord of the Cards: The Return of the Pharaoh
Haven't seen this since it first released in cinemas when I was 9. I wish I still had the Obelisk card from then, but all 3 (for myself and my brothers) were destroyed by washing machine (I did not know what a card sleeve was anyway).
Over 8 years later DSOD is even better than I remember. It makes me so genuinely happy to see these characters and this game so colourful and beautiful again. Diva and the Plana develop some fun new lore for the Millennium items and fill a big Marik-shaped hole in my heart. I hope eventually Konami will return to this, perhaps even creating a new series with the classic DM characters playing the modern game. Have Joey bring the aged up characters back into the game to teach them how it's changed, let the characters explore fun new decks as they release in the card game, make the Gods META! (Yami Marik structure deck please...) Plus Kaiba's journey in this film is so cool and I think we all need more of him.
The current direction of the series is honestly quite disappointing, with the Rush Duel animes deciding to go for a fresh younger audience and barely getting any English release (especially with Rush Duels being locked to Duel Links) and The Chronicles farting out a nothing-burger short every so often. I've certainly complained about the card game before but even so it still brings me excitement and there's still so many opportunities to explore if Konami stops being afraid to spend some pachinko money. I'd give so much to bring back the momentum from when this film released, I want to see more games, formats, anime series, merch and anything and everything experimental with DM. Call me a YugiBoomer but I'm three standard deviations younger than the mean age of players and at least I enjoy the game still. I hate seeing this franchise, which was my childhood and still makes me so happy, being forgotten and locked up in the comfort zone.
Even if none of my hopes for Yu-Gi-Oh realise (which, given Konami, wouldn't be unlikely) I know I can always come back to this film to enjoy this world again. Thank you to Kazuki Takahashi for all that you've built.
