YU☆GI☆OH! 5D'S

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionYu☆Gi☆Oh! 5D's
MANGA AdventureYu☆Gi☆Oh! GX
MANGA ActionYu☆Gi☆Oh! ZEXAL

REVIEWS

• 

  mynameisdoofy

  60/100
  A series which sets itself up for success, but then fails to deliver every time.

  __This review is spoiler free.__

  This is the third Yu-Gi-Oh! manga I have reviewed, and with each iteration, the duel monsters legacy is dragged further and further through the mud. While the original manga still stands the test of time, proving not only to be the template for the franchise but an exceptionally well-crafted battle shonen in its own right, its first two spin-offs – the GX and 5D’s manga – are poor imitations, riddled with issues, only to be enjoyed by diehard fans. In all fairness to GX, it was not a particularly ambitious manga: with its humble setting, solid duels, and well-written protagonist, it could at least offer a generally positive experience for most readers despite its shortcomings. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of 5D’s. This manga was brimming with potential, whether it be through the new dueling format, creating the possibility for more nuanced duels, the futuristic setting, offering a unique environment never before seen in the franchise, or the strong cast of characters handed to it from the anime; there were lots of concepts at play that could genuinely innovate upon the franchise, but the manga fails to capitalize on any of them.

  The manga was supervised by Kazuki Takahashi himself, with the art being delegated to his former assistant, Masashi Satou. The story, however, was written by Masahiro Hikokubo, who – to my knowledge – has never written a manga before this, but would later be involved in the duel composition for future anime series such as ARC-V, VRAINS, and Go Rush!!. Much like the GX manga which concluded four years prior, the 5D’s manga is a completely different entity than its anime counterpart. Debuting in the August 21, 2009 edition of V-Jump magazine, over a year after the anime’s release, the manga would run for a total of 66 chapters (plus two bonus chapters), ending on April 5, 2015. Given that, I will avoid any comparisons to the 5D’s anime, and rather, treat 5D’s as another entry in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga continuity. My principal concern, then, is not whether the anime or manga is better (as, in my opinion, that is a one-sided answer), but how the 5D’s manga builds upon the foundation of the earlier entries and where it falls short.

  _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Chapter 1_

  The manga opens with a duel between Yusei and his close friend, Sect. In typical Yu-Gi-Oh! fashion, Yusei emerges victorious. Immediately following the duel, Sect performs a superstitious ceremony called ‘the sunset salute,’ intending to summon the skeleton knight, a mythical creature who supposedly offers a rare card to whomever meets it. Yusei shrugs off the knight as an urban legend when, all of a sudden, a huge structure is erected from the earth, and atop it, the skeleton knight, now holding sect hostage. This prompts Yusei to duel the mythical creature. While Yusei is able to squeeze out the win over the knight, Sect remains in critical condition, forcing Yusei to rush him to the hospital. Unfortunately, his journey is interrupted by none other than Jack Atlas, who was sent to the Satellite to duel Yusei by his adoptive father, Rex Godwin.

  For what it is worth, this is a pretty solid duel, both in terms of how it plays out practically (that is, the duel composition) and narratively (that is, its role in the overall plot). On the one hand, it works as a good introduction to the concept of 'sense,' as it does not outright explain it but demonstrates its power, generating curiosity on behalf of the reader, and on the other hand, the outcome of this duel – Yusei's defeat – will serve as the defining moment in determining Yusei's motivations for the remainder of the series: to become strong enough to defeat Jack. On the whole, 5D's has a decent start. At the very least, it is void of those preliminary issues I have criticized the GX manga for, namely, it shows most duels in their entirety (some minor duels happen off screen, but that is totally fine), and it advances at a reasonably steady pace. Further, it also borrows a page out of GX's book by humbling its protagonist early on: although Yusei is initially heralded as the strongest in all the Satellite, his status as 'unbeatable' is quickly revoked when Jack enters the scene just four chapters in. This prevents duels from feeling one-sided, as there is precedent for Yusei losing.

  _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Chapter 15_

  With such a strong opening, one might be left questioning my initial remarks concerning the quality of the series. Well, unfortunately, my praises for this manga end with the first volume. It certainly introduces a whole slew of ideas which could make for a great Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, but as I previously mentioned, it fails to capitalize on any of them. For one, with the advent of turbo duels, the manga introduces two new win-conditions for duels: in addition to reducing one's opponent's life points to zero, one can now also (1) render their opponent's duel runner immobile, or (2) reach the finish line first. One would think that with all these new conditions, Hikokubo could find more unique ways to keep duels interesting, perhaps by coming up with more unique interactions between cards and duel runners, or by integrating the futuristic environment into the racing aspect, allowing duelists to discover (or create!) shortcuts to the finish line. Unfortunately, most of the duels simply play out as if the duel runners are not there. While there are a handful of instances in which one duelist will cut-off another or hit a jump over some terrain, the "turbo" aspect of the duels are highly neglected. To make matters worse, the general quality of the duels are a cut below what was found in the GX manga, which should come as a surprise to anyone who followed the TCG meta since the card game had become exponentially more complex by the time the 5D's manga came out.

  Another major issue with 5D's is that following the initial set up with the skeleton knight, the manga continues into yet another tournament arc – the fifth one in the manga continuity. Although the there is nothing inherently wrong with using a tournament structure, the franchise has become oversaturated with them. Had 5D's been more effective at utilizing its other win conditions, it would have at least made the tournament more engaging, but forcing readers to experience another series of uninteresting duels between characters they do not care about is criminal at this point. Moreover, the actual execution of the tournament is rather sloppy. The first rounds are nothing more than random duels. That's right: there isn't even a tournament bracket; just random fights. Admittedly, the second stage becomes slightly more interesting, with duelists having to collect some number of star tickets whose levels add up to twelve. The problem, however, is that despite this more involved premise, the execution is practically the same: duelists moving from location to location dueling one another.

  _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Chapter 26_

  Related to the execution of the plot, one aspect that 5D's had going for it was the age of its cast: unlike past Yu-Gi-Oh! series, 5D's is not set in a school setting, but instead, features a cast of adults. This should (in theory) allow Hikokubo to explore more mature themes through complex interpersonal drama, but in reality, the reader is met with relatively shallow motives and generic conclusions. In fact, three of the main character arcs can be reduced to "I need to become stronger to defeat the person who hurt my pride:" Sect, Akiza, and even Yusei. In each instance, the individual is humbled by some other duelist, chases after some external source of power, but ultimately discovers that true power comes from within, and it is this realization that makes one strong. There are slight variations in how each individual comes to this conclusion, but the execution is very one-dimensional. This lack of depth amplifies the problems with the tournament structure, as – by contrast with Battle City or GX – the reader is not invested in the duelists, and that, taken together with the generally less exciting duels, makes for a much less engaging experience.

  _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Chapter 7_

  Although there are a handful of other, minor grievances I could express towards 5D's – how the ancient past subplot is just a lazy re-skin of the original manga, or how silly the concept of 'sense' is – I believe I have expressed my main criticisms. In short, my frustration with 5D's can be summarized thus: it is not a bad manga in the strict sense, but rather, sets itself up to be something good and fumbles at every possible opportunity, leaving readers with the most boring and safe Yu-Gi-Oh! story imaginable. In this way, it is the combination of its lost potential and generic execution that makes reading this especially painful, even as a hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh! fan. For that reason, I think my score of 6/10 is quite generous.

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