Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
File:YuGiOh5DsLogo.svg Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Japanese Logo
Genre	Adventure, Fantasy
Anime
Directed by	Katsumi Ono
Studio	Studio Gallop
Released	April 2, 2008 September 13, 2008 – present

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (遊☆戯☆王5D's（ファイブディーズ）, Yū☆gi☆ō Faibu Dīzu) is a Yu-Gi-Oh! series which began to air in Japan from April 2 2008, and replaces Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX (broadcast as Yu-Gi-Oh! GX in the US). 5D's is also the first Yu-Gi-Oh! series to be broadcast in Widescreen.

During the series, the main Duel Disk is a motorcycle called a "Duel Runner" ("D-Wheel" in the Japanese version) and the duelists engage in stadium games called "Turbo Duels" ("Riding Duels" in the Japanese version). Yusei Fudo, the 18 year-old main protagonist, has "Stardust Dragon" as his main card, which is the cover card for the Duelist Genesis trading card set.

As with the previous two series (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX), this series has been acquired by 4Kids Entertainment for broadcasting in the United States in September 2008. It began airing on The CW4Kids, starting from September 13. The English language dub premiered on July 24 at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, where the first English dubbed episode was previewed. Like the previous two series, changes have been made to plot, cards, character names and personalities to make the show suitable for a younger age demographic.

Plot

Set in the future, the game of Duel Monsters has changed; a new addition has been introduced to the future of dueling as seen in 5D's: "Turbo Duels". These duels are played in giant stadiums, and duelists ride motorcycles with built-in duel equipment known as "Duel Runners". Domino City has also changed, under the guidance of the head of its public maintenance bureau, Rex Goodwin. Rich and powerful people live in what is now known as "New Domino City", while the poorer class are shunned and live mostly in the slums area, known as "Satellite". They are referred to in the Japanese version as "Satellite scum" (kuzu) by the inhabitants of New Domino City. (There is significantly less emphasis on class in the 4Kids adaptation.) An aspiring duelist from Satellite, Yusei Fudo, builds his own Duel Runner, but is betrayed by his best friend, Jack Atlas, who steals his Runner and his most precious monster, the Stardust Dragon. While Jack battles his way to the top and becomes Duel King, Yusei is forced to live on in Satellite with his friends.

File:Crimson Dragon.jpg

The Crimson Dragon, as seen during Yusei and Jack's Turbo Duel.

Two years later, Yusei has built another Duel Runner, and sets out to win back his Dragon and regain the bonds he once had with his friend. Jack, now known as the King of the Riding Duel, has made a name for himself and his monster, the Red Dragon Archfiend (Red Daemon's Dragon in the Japanese version), in New Domino City. Yusei and Jack face each other in a Turbo Duel, and during the duel Yusei is able to regain control of Stardust Dragon. As Stardust and Red Dragon Archfiend battle, a third dragon appears and brings an abrupt end to the fight. This attracts the attention of Rex Goodwin, who reveals to Jack an ancient secret - thousands of years ago, the "People of the Stars" (星の民, Hoshi no Tami), a pre-Incan civilization, were attacked by evil monsters, and summoned a mighty beast known as the "Crimson Dragon" to protect themselves. The Crimson Dragon imprisoned the evil forces into the ground, forming what are now the Nazca Lines. Goodwin reveals to Jack that five descendants of the People of the Stars are still alive in the present day, and have the power to call the Crimson Dragon once again, in order to guard against the return of evil. These five "Signers" (シグナー, Shigunā) may be recognized by the "Dragon Marks" they bear, a symbol on their body representing a part of the Crimson Dragon. The Marks react and begin glowing when their owner or another Signer is dueling. There are five Marks, the Dragon's head, tail, wings, and two claws. Jack has carried the wings since birth, and the tail originally appeared on Yusei's arm during the battle between Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend. After the duel ended, the Mark vanished, but it often reappears when Yusei is around other active Signers. Yusei's Stardust Dragon and Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend are the first two dragons. The third dragon is the Black Rose Dragon and is possessed by "Black Rose Witch", Akiza, the third signer and a girl who possesses psychic abilities. She believes her Dragon Mark to be the cause of her strange powers. Leo holds the fourth dragon, Power Tool Dragon, and the fifth dragon, Ancient Fairy Dragon, is held by Luna.

Goodwin has started a dueling tournament, the Fortune Cup, in order to locate the remaining Signers. Yusei and his friend Luna have both been invited, as has the mysterious Black Rose Witch. The winner of the tournament will be given the honor of facing off against the Duel King, Jack. During the tournament, Luna is confirmed as being the fourth Signer and Goodwin's severed hand holds the final birthmark, calling forth the Crimson Dragon again in the final match between Yusei and Jack, in which past and future events are shown before them. Yusei wins and becomes the new Duel King, but soon encounters a new enemy. This mysterious group uses spiders to control other citizens and make them into Dark Signers that can perform Shadow Duels using Dark Tuner and Dark Synchro monsters. This group also starts to target the other Signers.

Characters

Yusei Fudo, the series's main protagonist.

Main article: List of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters

Synchro Summon

A prominent new feature of the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's series, is the use of "Tuner Monsters" and "Synchro Monsters".

A "Synchro Summon" is activated when a player summons a Tuner Monster and tunes it with one or more non-tuner monsters on the field. Based on the sum of the levels of each monster, a Synchro Monster of that level can be summoned. For example, when a Lv3 Junk Synchron tunes itself with a Lv2 Speed Warrior, the Lv5 Junk Warrior can be summoned. These monsters can also be tuned once again in order to summon higher level Synchro Monsters such as the Lv8 Stardust Dragon. These monsters also contain additional attributes based on the Tuner Monster used as a material.

In the second season, there are "Dark Synchro Monsters" that can only be Synchro Summoned by subtracting the level of a non-tuner monster with a "Dark Tuner Monster". Thus, creating a negative Level. For example, a Lv8 Dark Tuner Monster can be tuned with a Lv3 Monster to summon a Lv -5 Dark Synchro Monster.

Duel Runner

File:Dwheel red.png

Yusei riding his Red Duel Runner during a duel.

As well as the normal standing duels, the latest Yu-Gi-Oh series features the "Turbo Duels", an all-new style of duel in which the players ride "Duel Runners" (or simply "Runners" for short), motorcycles with Duel equipment. Compared to the previous series, dueling with Runners contain some special rules. First, the duel is entirely played using the field magic "Speed World", which is activated by both players when the duel begins; it is possible to force a duel with someone on a Duel Runner by playing the card (a tactic generally used by Security when pursuing someone). Second, only magic cards designed to work into this field, known as Speed Spells, are allowed in the duel. Each magic needs a number of "Speed Counters" to be activated. Each duelist starts with zero Speed Counters and its number increase by one in each standby phase, up to a maximum of 12. The number of speed counters also affects the actual speed of the Duel Runner. A player's Speed Counters are reduced by one for every 1000 points of damage done to their Life Points. When a winner is decided, the Duel Runner of the defeated duelist shuts down automatically.

The Duel Runner features the card platform, sitting in front of the duelist, a stand for the cards in hand, which allows the duelist to ride with one hand while using the cards with the other, and a compartment for the deck located in the player's wrist. Cards sent to graveyard are inserted in a slot also located in front of the duelist. In some Duel Runner models (called hybrid models), the card platform can be detached from the bike and function as a standard Duel Disk for old-fashioned duels. An example of a hybrid model is Yusei's red Duel Runner. Other models such as Crow's Blackbird have been modified to include different formations such as a flight mode.

In the original Japanese language version, Duel Runners are called "D-Wheels", and Turbo Duels are known as "Riding Duels".

Signers and Dark Signers

A Dragon birthmark is a special mark that indicates that a person is a Signer. Each birthmark represents a part of the Crimson Dragon. Currently, only four people have been confirmed to have a Dragon's Birthmark: Yusei Fudo (who has the Tail Birthmark), Jack Atlas (who has the Wings Birthmark), Akiza (who has the Front Claw Birthmark) and Luna (who has the Rear Claw Birthmark). A severed arm bearing the Head Birthmark is in Goodwin's possession.

Their rivals are the Dark Signers. There are two kinds, those who become full Dark Signers after being ressurected from death, and those that are temporarily possessed into becoming one. Dark Spiders land on people and attach themselves onto their neck, infusing the person with dark powers and Dark Monsters. They can initiate Shadow Duels, in which monsters cause real life damage with their attacks. However, once a Dark Signer is defeated, the person has no memory of being a Dark Signer and all influence by the spider birthmark is removed. A proper Dark Signer possesses much stronger powers, creating a Dark field large enough to have a Turbo Duel in. It is presumed they become Dark Signers after being ressurected from death. Their members as of now are Rudger, the leader of the Dark Signers; Kyosuke Kiryu, a member who was once a friend and a big brother figure to Yusei and leader of Team Satisfaction (made up of Crow, Jack and Yusei); Demak, a member who strongly detests Signers; Misty, a member who holds a grudge against Akiza; and Carly, who was killed by Divine after a Psychic Duel. As of Episode 29 they have taken over Dick Pitt, a Satellite Street Fighter whom Carly identified and Officer Trudge.

Cast

Character	Seiyū	English voice actor
Yusei Fudo	Yuya Miyashita	Frank Frankson
Jack Atlas (Jack Atlus)	Takanori Hoshino	Ted Lewis
Luna (Luca)	Ai Horanai	Kether Donahue
Leo (Lua)	Yuka Terasaki	Amanda Brown
Akiza (Aki Izayoi)	Ayumi Kinoshita
Rex Goodwin (Rex Godwin)	Kote Shisoya	Maddie Blaustein
Trudge (Tetsu Ushio)	Kouji Ochiai	Dan Green
Rally Dawson	Mika Itou	Caroline Lawson
Blitz (Nerve)	Kensuke Fujita	Jamie McGonnigal
Nervin (Blitz)	Takahiro Hirano	Tom Wayland
Tank (Taka)	Tomohiro Oumura	Dave Wills
Mina (Mikage Sagiri)	Aiko Souhashi	Evelyn Lanto
Lazar (Jeager)	Tetsuya Yanagihara	Sebastian Arcelus
Zigzix (Akutsu)	Kouichiro Yuzawa	Sean Schemmel
Yanagi Tenzen	Bummei Tobayama	Marc Thompson
Bolt Tanner (Jin Himuro)	Taiten Kusunoki	Wayne Grayson
Hunter Pace (Mukuro Enjo)	Naoki Yanagi	Marc Thompson
Divine	Matsukaze Masaya

Changes made to the English version

When the show was adapted into English, changes were made, including:

• changing the target demographic from teenagers and young adults to young children aged 6 to 11 years.
• changing the names of many characters.
• editing the story to be much younger and lighter in tone.
• altering the cards so they do not look like their real life counterparts
• changing the background music, though some pieces remain.
• replacing the original sound effects with new ones.
• removing Japanese (and sometimes English) text and replacing it with unreadable symbols.
• altering death or torture scenes.

English Production:

• Julie Rath: Dub Voice Director
• Al Kahn: Producer

Episode list

• List of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's media

Opening & ending themes

Japanese

OP1 : "BONDS -Kizuna- ( 絆 - キズナ - )" by Kra (Episode 1-26)

OP2 : Last Train - Brand New Morning - (LAST TRAIN -新しい朝-, Ruasuto Torainu -Atarashi Asa-) by Knotlamp (Episode 27 onwards)

ED1 : "START" by Masataka Nakagauchi (Episode 1-26)

ED2 : "CROSS GAME" by Alice Nine (Episode 27 onwards)

English

4Kids held a poll on its website allowing viewers to vote for their favorite out of several potential theme songs for the dub. At certain intervals, songs were eliminated from the competition. In the end, Hyper Drive received the most votes.

"Hyper Drive" (All Episodes)

Addendum

"5D's" has been incorrectly quoted as standing for "5 Duel Scoop." V-Jump magazine printed a feature in its "Yu-Gi-Oh! Ōkoku" (Yu-Gi-Oh! Kingdom) series which "5DS" (without the apostrophe) was labeled as "5 Duel Scoop," which referred to the information within the feature itself. (As further stated by the article "Getting the Scoop on 5 Major News Flashes on New Dueling Developments." And listing each item as "DS1"-"DS5.") Merchandise, television commercials, the logo itself, and other references all state the name as "Faibu Diizu". ICv2 News also has the name "5 Duel Scoop" listed in its 4Kids article. .

DVDs

Funimation Entertainment will be the master DVD license to 4Kids adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS. The DVDs will show only the American edited TV Version. There will be no uncut DVDs as is the standard of Yu-Gi-Oh! governed by 4Kids. Magna Pacific will release the anime on DVD in Australia.

External links

• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S at TV Tokyo (Japanese)
• NASinc. (Japanese)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S Konami (Japanese)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's at 4Kids (English)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's at Wikia (English)