Duel Masters

Duel Masters (デュエルマスターズ Dyueru Masutāzu) is a franchise based on a manga, an anime and a trading card game. The English-language version of the series made a three-episode preview premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on February 27, 2004 (although it was somewhat edited for time.) The episodes then made their "official" premiere on March 13, 2004 on CN's Toonami spinoff block, the Saturday Video Entertainment System (also known as SVES or Saturday block is now cancelled) with fewer edits as well as episodes 4 & 5. Toonami then moved to Saturdays and premiered the rest of the series from then on. "Season 2" premiered on March 26, 2005. Season 3 began production in September 2005. Duel Masters 2.0 began on January 28th in America. Duel Masters often jokes about typical anime conventions, such as split-screens and a missing father-figure. Frequent references are made throughout the show to pop culture phenomenon, often at random. As such, they even recur as running gags during the course of the show. Another common form of humor found in the show is its breaking of the fourth wall. The characters will constantly say things like, "Looks like it's time for a fade-out,", "I hope the writers do better next week."," Why is the camera too close on my face?" or "You know, I like it when they use this scene." While the storyline is technically dramatic, most episodes are punctuated by a comedic storyline mixed in with the serious storyline. There are also various musical references: For example, when the main character, Shobu, attacks with a creature called Rikabu's Screwdriver, he says "It's hammer time...I mean screwdriver time." It also makes references to pop culture, such as when one of the characters, Kyoshiro Kokujo, says "I am dark...I am the night...I am Bat-oh wait, wrong show." Duel Masters also has promotional gimmicks which depart greatly from the traditional fantasy flavors embraced in The Gathering.

The card game is made by Wizards of the Coast.

The Duel Masters manga is written by Shigenobu Matsumoto, and is published by Shogakukan in Coro Coro Comics. It has not been licensed for the U.S. (although there has been an American created comic book by Dreamwave Productions. The first season and Japanese second season are loosely based on the manga.)

Current English expansions are Base Set DM-01, Evo-Crushinators of Doom DM-02, Rampage of the Super Warriors DM-03, Shadowclash of Blinding Night DM-04, Survivors of the Megapocalypse DM-05, Stomp-A-Trons of Invincible Wrath DM-06, Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction DM-07 and Epic Dragons of Hyper Chaos DM-08, with Fatal Brood of Infinite Ruin DM-09's release in January of 2006.

Plotline

The anime is about a boy named Shobu Kirifuda who plays a game called "Duel Masters" (in the early manga, he plays The Gathering). In Shobu's world, the players can bring the monsters to life using a fictional martial art called "kaijudo" (actually a marketing term created to sell the game in America.) Shobu aims to become a "Kaijudo master" like his father, Shori Kirifuda. Shobu fights opponents from the evil temple run by the mysterious Master in Season One. In the American created Season Two, Shobu battles the evil organization P.L.O.O.P. and their plans to use monsters from the Civilization Realms to take over Earth. In Season Three, Shobu and Co. take on dangerous bad guys at a Duel Masters tournament including the Black Soldiers and other bad guys.

Season Overview

The first season was produced by Plastic Cow Productions.

The second season was done by Elastic Media Corporation. In the previous season, talking scenes could be shortened and lengthened in order to fit jokes, but for this season the jokes were forced to fit in with the mouth-flaps. In combination with the lack of secondary characters like Mimi, Sayuki, Knight, and Boy George; less jokes in order to fit in the story-related dialogue; and the jokes in general being of lower quality, the season greatly suffered.

The third season (which Cartoon Network ironically titled "2.0" in their schedule pages ^*) is done by Howling Cat Productions.

Characters

Shobu Kirifuda (切札勝舞 Kirifuda Shōbu) - The show's protagonist. He aspires to become a great duelist like his father. Shobu keeps a positive attitude throughout the series, insisting on dueling for fun as opposed to simply winning. He's brave, strong, and true, just like every other anime hero. He uses a Fire Civilization deck.

Shori Kirifuda (切札勝利 Kirifuda Shōri) - Shobu's father. He put the burning mojo of duelling in Shobu's blood.

Mai Kirifuda (切札舞 Kirifuda Mai) - Shobu's mother and Shori's wife.

Knight (Duel Masters)|Knight (ナイト; Naito) - Shobu's mysterious and soft-spoken mentor. His inner monologue is a source of much of the show's mature and subtle humor. Despite being Shobu's mentor, he is usually unable to assist his student in times of need due to either Shobu's stubborn attitude or Knight being unable to show up at the scene. Knight does not appear in the manga.

Rekuta Kadoko (角古れく太; Kadoko Rekuta) - One of Shobu's close friends. Even though he's an expert at the rules of "Duel Masters," he's a terrible duelist, often going without a single win during a tournament. He's often seen with his portable laptop to keep track of important duels. As a running joke, he is often accidentally knocked far into the air--in one (dub only) instance, he was sent flying into space (against a live-action backdrop) and crashed into a space station.

Sayuki Manaka - Another one of Shobu's close friends, she doesn't duel, but is always present to see Shobu's matches.

Mimi Tasogare (黄昏ミミ; Tasogare Mimi) - Another member of Shobu's posse. She appeared at first to be an inept duelist but was later revealed as the second of the Four Temple Guardian at the Junior Duelist Center and an expert player. Mimi is also an expert at martial arts and is incredibly smart and strong.

Hakuoh (白凰 Hakuō) - As a child, he was a cheerful duelist like Shobu. Since then, Hakuoh has become a cold-hearted villain. Later in the series, he is defeated by Shobu and befriends him.He uses a Light Civilazation deck.

Mikuni/Johnny Coolburns - The first of the Four Temple Guardians. He uses a Fire deck, and during his fight with Shobu he purposely copied everything he did in order to throw him off. He lost to Robby Rotten in season three, where his name mysteriously changed to Johnny Coolburns. It was later explained that this (and all other plotholes in the show) are due to alternate dimensions.

Benny Haha - The third of the Four Temple Guardians and Mimi's "twin brother." He uses lies and cheating in his duels. He returns in Season 3 claiming he has changed, but he is still evil. He ends up dueling Hakuoh befor their match in Duel Masters Battle Arena. Afterwards, he injured Hakuoh so he would be unable to duel him the next morning. He ended up dueling Shobu again and losing. He is also working with Yumama and were possibly going out. After he lost to Shobu, Yumama trapped him in a room with Boy George. They both escaped in the same episode. He uses a Water Civilazation deck.

Aizen - The fourth of the Four Temple Guardians. He was defeated by Kyoshiro Kokujo before he can fight Shobu. He also lost to Hakuoh in Duel Masters Battle Arena.

Kintaro Nanba (難波金太郎; Nanba Kintarō) - Former gatekeeper of the Junior Duelist Center. He was fired from his job after losing to Shobu and became one of his friends. Nobody knows how old he is. He carries around a man-purse and an abacus.He lost to Extreme Bucket Man in the finals.

Kyoshiro Kokujo (黒城凶死郎; Kokujō Kyōshirō) - A self-proclaimed "evil genius" throughout the series. Other characters make fun of his outlandishly styled long hair and all-black leather outfit. He defeated Mimi in the finals but lost to yumama before their official match. He uses a Darkness Civilization Deck.

Master (Duel Masters)|Master (マスター; Masutā) - Little is known about the leader of the evil temple (in the form of the Junior Duelist Center) except that he's always seen in a hooded robe and most of his face is never seen. He is the main bad guy of Season One until Hakuoh was defeated.

Boy George (Duel Masters)|Boy George (called simply "George", or "Jōji" (ジョージ) in Japan) - Boy George is a midget in a bear suit and is always seen sucking a pacifier. He rides around in a motor baby carriage and uses a Water Civilization deck. His English dub name is an obvious reference to Culture Club lead singer Boy George (one of the dub episodes is called "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me") in Season 3 he uses a Darkness, Water deck, he also withdraw's from the tournament after losing to Yumama. In Japan, he is a possible reference to/parody of "Johji", Hiroto Honda's infant nephew in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.

Dr. Root (Dr. ルート; Dokutā Rūto) - Boy George's boss, mad scientist, and expert duelist. He tends to extend some words long and has a deck of Survivor monsters.

P.L.O.O.P. - An evil organization that plot to use monsters from the Civilizations of the Creature World to take over Earth. This organization is seen only in the "second season" that was created for America.

Black Soldiers - A group of duelists that are the opposite form of Hakuoh's White Soldiers led by Robby Rotten.

Yumama - A mysterious girl who can duel and read a book at the same time. She also can stand on the ceiling. She also reads a teen heart drop book with 400 pages of pictures of "sassy" cute boys. She defeated Boy George and Yuki right before they were suppose to duel making her win instantly. She defeated Kokujo before their official match.

Extreme Bucketman - A short duelist who wears a bucket on his head. No one knows if he's male or female. Rekuta thinks that he's/she's annoying.

Duel Masters Facts

"Kaijudo" originates from the word "kaijū", meaning monster, and "dō", or "the way." Therefore, "kaijūdō" means "the way of the monster."

The term "Kaijudo" is specific to North America. It is not used in Japan.

The name "Duel Masters" is often believed to be a pun on "Duel Monsters" (the name used in the second series anime and English manga for a card game (also known as Magic & Wizards - that name is a pun off of "Magic: The Gathering") in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime series.) It actually takes its name from Magic: The Gathering, which had Duel Masters as its codename early in development.

In the United Kingdom, Future Publishing publishes the Official Duel Masters Magazine.

The first English-language season of the TV series was produced by Plastic Cow Productions. The second season that was created for the American market was produced by Elastic Media Corp. The third season is being produced by Howling Cat Productions (featuring some of the former Saban Entertainment VA's, such as Brian Beacock, Philece Sampler, and Wendee Lee). In the UK, Duel Masters airs on Toonami and used to air on five. In the US, it airs on Cartoon Network.

The ridiculous titles of the TCG expansion sets are named in parody of other TCGs with strange titles.

The show is known to break the fourth wall for comedic relief.

Criticism

This show is often portrayed as a rip-off or parody of similar animes such as Yu-Gi-Oh since they use similar plots, characters, and terms. However, neither are probably true considering the large amount of card battle related anime and manga in Japan.

Differences Between Japanese and U.S. Versions

The "Sacred Lands"/"P.L.O.O.P." storyline is not based on the manga and was created specifically for the American market. The Japanese version has a separate second season entitled "Duel Masters Charge", which is based on more of the manga and features characters that do not appear in the American second season, including a character named "Great Baketsuman." It is unknown when or if the Japanese second season will air in America. If the Japanese second season were to be broadcast in America, it would have to be changed to accommodate the American second season. It is also unknown why a separate second season was created for America in the first place.

As a whole, the Japanese version is more serious than the American version, though it is quite silly itself. While the Japanese version seems to rely more on visual and situational humor, the American version tends to use much more verbal humor. Also, while the Japanese version is mostly a traditional card-game show with much humor, the American version is a flat-out parody of the genre.

External links

Collectible card games | fantasy anime | Programs broadcast by YTV | Shows on Toonami

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