Recently finished first series! Random comments
...well, almost finished. Haven't seen the last two episodes on bakura yet, but still.
I officially love "season zero."
I mean, I was actually engaged in the games, even the duels. The fact that we're getting a peek into the character's strategys without them YELLING EVERY MOVE definitly helped. The "original characters" (characters I know definately weren't in the manga) were just as interesting, if not moreso than, the Takahashi-created opponents. One of them even played a game that wasn't That Blasted Card Game! Wow!
Haha, Shizuka has pink hair.
DRAAAAAAAAAGON JAAAAAAR! Oh man I love that thing. Seriously. There should be fanfics with that thing in it. It's awesome.
Mokuba scares me. He can soliloquize all he wants about his brother acting "possesed", but he ain't that much better.
I love how Death T is the point where seemingly simple games become UNFATHOMABLY COMPLEX. OR DANGEROUS. OR BOTH.
I mean seriously, there's no possible way a board game like capsule monsters could ever function like that. Ever.
Bakura reminds me of Mytho from Princess Tutu for some reason. Seriously, I keep expecting him to start ranting about ravens. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
I really love the style of it too. I mean, some colors I wouldn't have used so much, but the contrast between light and shadows really fits with the more game-horror aspects of the series. The animators were also really good at blurring the line between what's a hallucination, what the characters are just imagining but acnowledge as fantasy, and what's really happening durring the shadow games. From what little I've seen of the main series, that series' artists tend to make everything look rather "solid" and then try to use glowyness or transparency as an after-effect, which (I think) makes it look rather cheesy. A story about a boy and the mind-warping spirit who occasionally takes over his body should not be so shiny and sparkly as the Duel Monster series is, dang it.
But since I'm almost done with the first series, the only way for me to get more Yuugiou until I (legally) obtain the manga will be to watch the Duel Monsters series. Even though I hate certain aspects of it and it doesn't really mesh with the first anime. Dang it.