Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL

'Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL (pronounced zay-al [IPA: zeɪal] in Japanese, pronounced zek-sul' in English) is a Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga series, set in the near future as the successor to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's series.

The anime first aired on April 11, 2011 in popular evening slots in Japan on TV Tokyo. It introduces the Xyz Summon mechanic and Xyz Monsters. It also starts the use of the Series 7 card layout replacing the Series 3 layout used in later episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and the majority of episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

The English dubbed version premiered on October 15, 2011 on the CW4KIDS Toonzai.

Characters

 * ''See: Category:Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL characters


 * Yuma Tsukumo
 * Ryoga Kamishiro
 * Astral
 * Tori Meadows
 * Kari Tsukumo
 * Haru Tsukumo
 * Bronk Stone
 * Kaito Tenjo
 * Cathy
 * Flip

Summary
In a city in the near future, Heartland, kids and adults are nuts about Augmented Reality Duels. Augmented Reality Duels are Duels that use Duel Gazers and D-Pads, which when the two are used together, whether on the ground or in the sky, cause monsters to erupt from buildings and fight each other; it's a super-charged duel!

But there's no one in town who's crazier about dueling than our hero, Yuma Tsukumo. At a beginner level, he's a Champion at absolutely losing. Due to a chain of events, Yuma ends up challenging the number one delinquent at his school, Ryoga. The Duel before him will greatly change Yuma's destiny...!

A bizarre door that usually appears in Yuma's dreams suddenly shows up in the midst of this fight. When Yuma unlocks this sealed door, countless lights fly from it and escape. And when Yuma comes to, he sees the mysterious entity, Astral, who came from a parallel universe, standing before him.

In order to regain Astral's lost memories, the flying lights from the door that have turned into the 99 "Numbers" Cards, these two must work together. Just what is the purpose for Astral's appearance in our world? And what on earth is with these new monsters known as "Numbers"? A series of mysterious and powerful rivals begin to appear before Yuma and Astral, slowly unraveling the mystery...

Manga
The ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL'' manga is written by Shin Yoshida, illustrated by Naoto Miyashi and published by Shueisha. Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL'' manga was released before the anime and follows the same story as the anime up until Rank 009.

The series is set in the near future. Something unexpected happens as Ryoga Kamishiro challenges Yuma Tsukumo to a Duel. When the mysterious entity Astral appears before them a new legend begins.

Music
Japanese opening theme 1: Masterpiece
 * Performer: Mihimaru GT
 * Episodes: 001-025

Japanese ending theme 1: My Quest
 * Performer: Golden Bomber
 * Episodes: 001-025

Japanese opening theme 2: BRAVING!
 * Performer: KANAN
 * Episodes: 026-

Japanese ending theme 2: Longing Freesia
 * Performer: DaizyStripper
 * Episodes: 026-

English theme: Take a Chance

Development
An encore screening of Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time on February 20, 2011 in Japan contained details on the production of ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL''. The second 2011 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump included details of the screening a competition on how one hundred and ten readers can win passes to see it.

4Kids confirmed that an English-language dub would premiere on October 15th at 9:30 AM.

Differences in adaptations

 * Some names are Americanized.
 * The names on the Duelist's picture are removed.
 * Skirts are lengthened.
 * Astral's lower body appears to be blurred.
 * In the English version, whenever a person is being controlled by a Number, a deep voice is heard saying "Let the Number take hold!"
 * Rice balls and other cultural references are sometimes removed.
 * While more closer to the original than most english adaptions of Yu-Gi-Oh!, dialogue is altered to include more jokes.

Staff
The following staff are credited.

Trivia

 * There has been no mention or the action of Synchro Summoning or Ritual Summon in the series so far.
 * Although "Iron Chain Dragon" was seen in episode 1's preview, and Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand was seen in both the episode and preview for episode 1.
 * Although neither Synchro or Tuner monsters are seen nor mentioned in the series, they have been seen on other cards, "Counselor Lily" → "Attraffic Control".
 * There have been Fusion, Xyz Summon and Tribute Summons.
 * Duel Disks vary in styles (variety of different Duel Disks).
 * This series is the closest to real-world game mechanics than the other series, mostly because this series can perform more monster Setting; in other series, players would usually Summon a monster in face-up Defense Position rather than face-down.

Allusions to previous Yu-Gi-Oh! series
There are a lot of allusions to various other Yu-Gi-Oh! series within several episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL. Most of these allusions have to do with characters or monsters, but there are some aspects of gameplay that bear allusions as well. Although Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's allude to previous series as well, there are more allusions in ZEXAL than in either series, though this is to be expected.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

 * Episode 15 features a Deck of Statue monsters that are based on monsters from the original series, like "Dark Magician" and "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
 * Astral and Yuma's relationship shares many similarities with Pharaoh Atem and Yugi Muto's relationship.
 * Kaito Tenjo's will to protect his younger brother Haruto is similar to Seto Kaiba's desire to protect his brother Mokuba.
 * Shark has a lot in common with Joey Wheeler, wherein both bully their respective series' protagonists, Yuma and Yugi, early on in the series, but then later become good friends. They also end up Dueling in tournaments, fighting for their sisters who are in hospitals.
 * Flip shares many personality traits with Weevil Underwood. Also, both cheat when they Duel by messing with their opponent's Decks beforehand.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

 * Anna Kozuki, first seen in episode 34, bears a slight resemblance to Jaden Yuki.
 * Shark's personality early on in the series is similar to that of Chazz Princeton.
 * Also, both Shark and Chazz are seen Dueling professionally and being banned from their respective leagues for breaking the rules.
 * Astral and Kaito's rivalry, at least prior to the WDC, is similar to Jaden's rivalry with Zane Truesdale, in that the protagonist loses the first Duel (almost loses, in Astral's case, as the Duel is interrupted) and ties the second Duel.
 * Both GX and ZEXAL include schools as an important setting.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

 * The concept of Xyz Summoning introduced in ZEXAL has a lot in common with Synchro Summoning, namely that both require all involved monsters to be on the field, both pay attention to Levels, and neither require any other cards.
 * The Xyz Monsters have their stars on the left side of the card, like the Dark Synchro Monsters used in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
 * When Kaito is Dueling, after his outfit changes colour, he bears a striking resemblance to Jack Atlas.