Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)
Yu-Gi-Oh!遊☆戯☆王 (ＹＵ－ＧＩ－ＯＨ！) Yūgiō
Genre	Action, Adventure, Gaming
Anime series
Directed by	Hiroyuki Kakudo
Studio	Toei Animation
Network	TV Asahi
Original run	April 4, 1998 — October 10, 1998
No. of episodes	27

Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王 (ＹＵ－ＧＩ－ＯＨ！) Yūgiō, trans. "King of Games", occasionally subtitled "A Game of Darkness" or "The Shadow Games", or unofficially referred to as "First Series" or "Season Zero" by fans, is the first anime adaptation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series. The 27-episode series was produced by Toei Animation and aired on TV Asahi from April 4 to October 10, 1998.

While this series is not directly connected to Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (known internationally simply as Yu-Gi-Oh!, produced by Nihon Ad Systems and aired on TV Tokyo), both anime series are based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.

Manga plots were re-written so that they could take up an entire episode's worth of time. Also, the level of violence was reduced between the manga and the anime. Finally, a minor character in the manga, Miho Nosaka, became a main character in the first series along with Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki, and Hiroto Honda. Characterization was slightly modified. For instance, Miho is a "ditz" in the anime while in the manga she is a shy student librarian. Also, Honda is Jonouchi's verbal sparring partner instead of his crony in Toei's anime.

New characters and plots, such as those relating to the four game masters, were added, and there are more occurrences of Seto Kaiba and Duel Monsters (Magic and Wizards in the original Japanese manga) than in the corresponding manga. Unlike the second series, the card game (Duel Monsters) is not the sole focus of the show. However, the Duel Monsters rules have been updated, becoming more like those used in the Duelist Kingdom, even though this anime never gets to that point. The last episodes of the series focus on the battle between Yugi and Dark Bakura. This series had different voice actors and different character designs than the second series (e.g. Seto Kaiba's hair is green in Toei's anime). The series has not been licensed for an English-language release.

Yami no Game

In this series, Yami Yugi doesn't challenge people to a duel of Duel Monsters. Instead, he would challenge them to a Shadow Game, or Yami no Game, a dangerous challenge where he would then explain the rules. However, the person in question would cheat and the Doors of Darkness will open, thus Yami Yugi would enact a Penalty Game upon the person, and usually whatever they obsess over the most would be their nightmare, such as their makeup falling off and showing their true face or wristwatches fusing to their being. Duel Monsters was not the main point of the show but was played a few times, and due to popular demand it subsequently became the main focus of the series.

Cast

The ending credits of each episode features three pages of voice roles.

• Characters appearing on the first page are listed below as "main".
• Characters appearing on the second page, at least once, are listed below as supporting.
• Characters only appearing on the third page are listed below as minor.

Main
Character	Voice actor	Episodes
Yugi Mutou / Dark Yugi	Megumi Ogata	1–27
Katsuya Jonouchi	Toshiyuki Morikawa	1–16, 18–27
Anzu Mazaki	Yumi Kakazu	1–27
Hiroto Honda	Ryotaro Okiayu	1–16, 18–27
Miho Nosaka	Yukana Nogami	1–16, 18–27
Supporting
Character	Voice actor	Episodes
Sugoroku Mutou	Takeshi Aono	1–5, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24
Ushio	Ryuzaburo Otomo	1
Tetsuo Sasaki	Nobuyuki Hiyama	2
Jiro the Jorogumo	Mahito Oba	2
Chief inspector	Hideyuki Umezu	2
	Hiroshi Ito	14
Seto Kaiba	Hikaru Midorikawa	3, 8, 12, 15, 17, 20–24
	Chie Sato (childhood)	20
Shotaro Akaboshi	Bin Shimada	4
Shadi	Kaneto Shiozawa	5, 6
Curator Kanekura	Shin Aomori	5
Professor Yoshimori	Akio Nojima	5, 6
Haiyama	Daisuke Sakaguchi	7
Kujirada	Shozo Iizuka	7
Ridley Sheldon	Chikao Otsuka	8
Hirutani	Koji Ishi	9
Mayumi	Yuko Sumitomo	10
Ms. Chono	Masako Katsuki	10, 12
Warashibe	Nobuo Tobita	11
Ryuichi Fuwa	Ryo Horikawa	12, 24
Kokurano	Shigeru Chiba	13
Kokurano groupie	Emi Uwagawa	13
Kokurano groupie	Maki Yagita	13
Continuous Bomber	Ryusei Nakao	14
Risa Kageyama	Wakana Yamazaki	15
Kekeru Goyu	Banjo Ginga	16
Shizuka Jonouchi	Michiko Neya	16
Miyuki Sakurai	Yuri Amano	16
Aileen Rao	Miina Tominaga	17, 24
Imori	Megumi Urawa	18
Kaoruko Himekoji	Yumi Toma	19
Student Council Chairman	Kozo Shioya	19
Ryo Bakura / Dark Bakura	Tsutomu Kashiwakura	19, 21–27
Mokuba Kaiba	Katsue Miwa	19, 20, 21, 23, 24
Daimon	Ryuji Saikachi	20
Dragon	Nobuyuki Hiyama	21
Dark Master Zorc	Shozo Iizuka	25–27
Minor
Character	Voice actor	Episodes
Leader	Takashi Nagasako	1
Group member	Tamotsu Nishiwaki	1
Group member	Masaya Takatsuka	1
Schoolboy	Jin Domon	1
Schoolgirl	Saori Kaneda	1
Schoolgirl	Rika Komatsu	1
Schoolgirl	Sayuri Fujita	1
Boss-like man	Hisao Egawa	2
TV announcer	Nobuhiko Kazama	2
Radio announcer	Yoshiyuki Kono	2
Professor-like man	Naoki Imamura	2
Housewife	Airi Yoshida	2
Homeroom teacher	Tetsu Inada	3, 8, 12, 21
Bodyguard	Naoki Imamura	3
Schoolboy	Horie Yasuaki	3
Mother	Mizogami Makiko	4
Clock store clerk	Yoshiyuki Kono	4
Youth	Domon Hitoshi	4
Game room clerk	Nobuhiko Kazama	4
Old woman	Niki Shizumi	4
Foreigner	Naoki Imamura	5
Teacher	Tamotsu Nishiwaki	6
Teacher	Yoshiyuki Kono	7
Father	Naoki Imamura	7
Honda's mother	Niki Shizumi	7
Schoolgirl	Saori Kaneda	7
Schoolgirl	Kanako Okada	7
School nurse	Michie Tomizawa	8, 11
Jonouchi's father	Tetsu Inada	9
Master	Tomohisa Aso	9
Delinquent	Yoshiyuki Kono	9
Other school leader	Naoki Imamura	9
Student	Tamotsu Nishiwaki	9
Vice-principal	Masaharu Sato	10
Teacher	Nobuhiko Kazama	10
Schoolboy	Kazuya Nakai	10
Schoolboy	Atsushi Kisaichi	10
Schoolboy	Naoki Imamura	10
Schoolgirl	Kanako Okada	10
Schoolgirl	Miki Otani	10
Elementary school student	Miki Otani	11
Chairman	Yoshiyuki Kono	12
Shop manager	Naoki Imamura	12
Official	Jin Domon	12
Student	Naoki Kinoshita	12
Child	Junko Noda	12
Child	Miki Otani	12
Schoolboy	Naoki Imamura	13
Schoolboy	Naoki Kinoshita	13
Schoolboy	Hiroaki Miura	13
Schoolgirl	Miki Otani	13
Schoolgirl	Chieko Atarashi	13
Official	Jin Domon	14
Ticket cashier	Yuko Tachibana	14
Policeman	Naoki Imamura	14
Policeman	Hiroo Kobayashi	14
Policeman	Naoki Kinoshita	14
Office lady	Miki Otani	14
Office lady	Sayoko Kawaguchi	14
Kageyama sister B	Emi Uwagawa	15
Kageyama sister C	Konomi Maeda	15
Shop assistant	Hiroo Kobayashi	15
Old man	Tamotsu Nishiwaki	16
Student	Naoki Imamura	16
Nurse	Sayoko Kawaguchi	16
Nurse	Chieko Atarashi	16
Hirata	Atsushi Kisaichi	17
Reporter	Jin Domon	17
Reporter	Naoki Imamura	17
Reporter	Tsuyoshi Takishita	17
Reporter	Sayoko Kawaguchi	17
Reporter	Chieko Atarashi	17
Aristocrat	Naoki Imamura	18
Student	Jin Domon	18
Man	Tsuyoshi Takishita	18
Schoolgirl	Chieko Atarashi	18
Schoolgirl	Miwa Yasuda	18
Kaoruko bodyguard	Konomi Maeda	19
Kaoruko bodyguard	Rika Komatsu	19
Officer	Hiroshi Kamiya	19
Schoolboy	Naoki Imamura	19
Schoolboy	Jin Domon	19
Schoolgirl	Akemi Misaki	19
Gozaburo Kaiba	Unsho Ishizuka	20
High executive	Naoki Imamura	20
Doctor	Tamotsu Nishiwaki	20
Man with glasses	Jin Domon	20
Subordinate	Masaya Takatsuka	20
Grade school student	Yukari Hikida	21
Grade school student	Junko Noda	21
Schoolgirl	Kanako Okada	21
Schoolgirl	Rika Komatsu	21
Red	Hisao Egawa	22
Black	Masaharu Sato	22
Blue	Hiromi Nishikawa	22
Female announcer	Emi Uwagawa	22
Black-suited man	Tsuyoshi Takishita	22
Boy	Akemi Misaki	22
Computer	Kanako Okada	22
Spectator	Tsuyoshi Takishita	23
Spectator	Munehiro Tokita	23
Spectator	Hiroaki Miura	23
Mr. Karita	Masato Hirano	25, 27
Pokii	Konomi Maeda	25–27
Pao	Masaya Takatsuka	26
Monster	Tsuyoshi Takishita	26

Episode list

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime) episode listing

VHS

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime) VHS listing

Trivia

• Despite being his trump card in the next series, Yugi never played "Dark Magician" in this show.
  • However, Yugi is seen using it in the opening theme.
  • "Dark Magician" is also seen in the hand of another duelist in episode 3.
  • Yugi finally Summons "Dark Magician" in the Toei Movie.
• "Unguard Magic" (the Toei equivalent of "Stop Defense") is the only card in English.
• Kaiba is seen with green hair and wears a white outfit like Noah Kaiba in the third season of the next series.
• Some manga chapters are packed together in one episode (eg. the 3 chapters with Hirutani occur in only one episode).
• The Millennium Items are not gold-colored only. In fact, they are colored gold and brown (except for Yugi's Puzzle).
• Most of the Dark Games are changed, except for the Dragon Card against Himori and Shadi's tests.
• Most of the monsters are colored differently, except for "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
• The card backings show stylised "MW" letters for "Magic and Wizards", even though the characters refer to the game in-show as Duel Monsters.
• Cards are played on a duel mat with different areas depicted. All these areas give a 50% bonus to monsters placed in the right area.
  • This is similar to the "field power bonus" in the Duelist Kingdom arc in the next series.
• Only a few duels use Kaiba's virtual reality system to show monsters.
  • Other ideas used to show monsters are puppets, Dark Games, etc.