Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL

"ZEXAL" redirects here. For the power, see ZEXAL (power). For the team, see Team ZEXAL. For the card, see Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL (card).

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL遊 (ゆう) ☆戯 (ぎ) ☆王 (おう) ＺＥＸＡＬ (ゼアル) Yū☆Gi☆Ō Zearu
Anime series
Directed by	Satoshi Kuwabara
Studio	Studio Gallop
Network	TV Tokyo, BS Japan
Other networks Toonzai on CW4Kids (Episodes 1-25) Vortexx (Episodes 26-113) Nicktoons GO! YTV Teletoon K2 (from June 9, 2012) Indosiar, RCTI, Trans7, Spacetoon Super 3 (from June 9, 2012) RTL2, Nickelodeon YEP TV!/ProSieben MAXX Nickelodeon Canal J Gulli SIC K Cadena Tres Canal 28 YOYO TV Jojo Televen ETC...TV ABS-CBN ABS-CBN Sports+Action Hero RTÉ2 Cartoon Network Kix TV Pop TV Champ TV Spacetoon
Original run	April 11, 2011 — March 23, 2014
No. of episodes	146
Manga Series
Authored by	Kazuki Takahashi / Studio Dice (original concept) Shin Yoshida (story) Naohito Miyoshi (manga)

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL (pronounced ZAY-al [IPA: /ˈzeɪ.al/] in Japanese, pronounced ZEK-sul [IPA: /ˈzek.sʌl/] in English) is a Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga series and the successor to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's series. It was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V on April 6, 2014.

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.

Starting with the show's fourth arc, the show was advertised under the name Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II (pronounced zay-al [IPA: zeɪal] sekando in Japanese, pronounced zek-sul second in English), but both NAS and TV Tokyo classify it as the same show, with the episode numbers continuing from where it was left off instead of returning to the start.

The first season of the English dubbed version premiered on October 15, 2011 on the CW4KIDS Toonzai. The second season was brought to CW4KIDS's second Cartoon Block, Vortexx. Official English subtitled episodes can be found on Hulu, though only available within the United States thus far.

Vortexx came to an end on September 27, 2014, and was replaced with a live-action E/I block from Litton Entertainment named One Magnificent Morning. On July 11, 2014, it was announced that new episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL would premiere on yugioh.com each week up until the conclusion of Season 3.

As of February 22, 2015, all episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL (146 total) have been dubbed into English, making it the first series to do so since the original series.

Summary

Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL (遊 (ゆう) ☆戯 (ぎ) ☆王 (おう) ＺＥＸＡＬ (ゼアル) ) Logo

Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II (遊 (ゆう) ☆戯 (ぎ) ☆王 (おう) ＺＥＸＡＬ (ゼアル) Ⅱ (セカンド) ) Logo

In a city in the near future, Heartland City, kids and adults enjoy 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. The hero is 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, Reginald. His destiny is changed by a bizarre door he's seen in his dreams. 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.

Dubbed version title screen.

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. A series of mysterious and powerful rivals begin to appear before Yuma and Astral including a young boy named Kite Tenjo, revenge-seeking Vetrix and the maniacal Dr. Faker.

"Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II"

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II takes place after the first season. The curtain falls on the World Duel Carnival, peace has finally returned to Heartland City. But now, emissaries from the Barian World, hostile to the Astral World, are aiming to steal the "Numbers" and Astral for themselves. In order to protect him, Yuma, Kite and Shark join together to combat the Barian menace, as they ultimately become involved in the Interdimensional War of two worlds.

When the memories of Shark's past life, Nash, are awakened, he decides to lead the Barians against Astral World. With Nash restored to the throne and Earth fusing with the Barian World, the Seven Barian Emperors decide to invade Earth for the final battle. When Yuma and Nash finally confront each other, their duel will end the Inter-dimensional War in the most unexpected way...

Characters

These characters appear in both the anime and manga

• Yuma Tsukumo
• Astral
• Tori Meadows
• Reginald Kastle
• Kite Tenjo
• Orbital 7
• Hart Tenjo
• Bronk Stone
• Caswell Francis
• Cathy Katherine
• Flip Turner
• Kari Tsukumo
• Haru Tsukumo
• Mr. Heartland
• Dr. Faker
• Kazuma Tsukumo

Anime Characters

• Rio Kastle
• Don Thousand
• Dumon
• Alito
• Mizar
• Girag
• Vector

Manga Characters

• Cologne
• Kyoji Yagumo
• Luna
• E'Rah

Manga

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL (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.

Spin-off

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL

Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL is a spin-off of the series made by Akihiro Tomonaga with the cooperation of Wedge Holdings. This spin-off is non-canon to the anime and manga series, and focuses on humor.

Just like in the anime and manga, the series is set in the near future. However, it has no relation to them. Here, Yuma already knows Astral since the beginning, and forms a Dueling Team with Kotori, Tetsuo and Takashi.

Music

Opening Themes

Japanese opening theme 1: Masterpiece

• Performer: Mihimaru GT
• Episodes: 001-025, 146

Japanese opening theme 2: BRAVING!

• Performer: KANAN
• Episodes: 026-049

Japanese opening theme 3: Soul Drive

• Performer: Color Bottle
• Episodes: 050-073

Japanese opening theme 4: Unbreakable Heart

• Performer: Takatori Hideaki
• Episodes: 074-098

Japanese opening theme 5: Dual-ism of Mirrors

• Performer: Petite Milady
• Episodes: 099-123

Japanese opening theme 6: Wonder Wings

• Performer: DIAMOND✡YUKAI
• Episodes: 124-145

Ending Themes

Japanese ending theme 1: My Quest

• Performer: Golden Bomber
• Episodes: 001-025

Japanese ending theme 2: Longing Freesia

• Performer: DaizyStripper
• Episodes: 026-049

Japanese ending theme 3: Wild Child

• Performer: moumoon
• Episodes: 050-073

Japanese ending theme 4: Artist

• Performer: Vistlip
• Episodes: 074-098

Japanese ending theme 5: GO WAY GO WAY

• Performer: FoZZtone
• Episodes: 099-123

Japanese ending theme 6: Challenge the GAME

• Performer: REDMAN
• Episodes: 124-145

English Themes

English theme: Take a Chance

English theme 2: Halfway to Forever

Soundtracks

All soundtracks were released by Marvelous Entertainment.

• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Sound Duel 1, was released on September 28, 2011.

• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Sound Duel 2, was released on September 19, 2012.

• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Sound Duel 3, was released on May 15, 2013.

• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Sound Duel 4, was released on November 13, 2013.

• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Sound Duel 5, was released on November 19, 2014.

Episodes

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL episode listing (season 1)

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL episode listing (season 2)

DVD

Main article: Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL DVD listing

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, 2011 at 9:30 AM.

Differences in adaptations

• Some names are Americanized.
• The names on the Duelist's picture are removed.
• The Win Sound Effect is changed in the English Dub.
• Skirts and socks on female characters are lengthened to avoid any sexual implications.
• Astral's lower body is blurred out to avoid references to nudity.
• The backs of the cards have been edited to become the standard backing seen in the other series, with an exception in the first 8 episodes, when they re-aired, the backings are changed. In episode 26 and onward, the backing of the cards changed to how they appear in the World Duel Carnival arc, just like the Japanese version.
• The scenes depicting Numbers users aging from "Photon Hand" is cut. Although this isn't the case when Kite takes Reginald Kastle's soul.
• When an Overlay Unit is used, the sound effect has been replaced with a new one.
• The Life Point sound effect is replaced with a different one than the original.
• There are 3 seasons in the dub.
• References to death or killing of characters are toned down or removed.

Timeline Placement

Since ZEXAL aired after 5d's, most people assumed that it takes place after 5d's. However, there is actually lots of evidence to the contrary:

• When Yuma enters the Duel Sanctuary for the first time, the signature cards of Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, and Jaden Yuki are shown in statue form. However, the ace monsters of Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, and Team 5D's are completely absent.
• Synchro Monsters are absent from ZEXAL, but Fusion and Ritual Monsters aren't.
• Duel Runners are absent from ZEXAL as well.

Staff

The following staff are credited.

Original character draft	Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Dice (Weekly Shōnen Jump)
Planning	Yukio Kawasaki (TV Tokyo) Masanori Miyake
Director	Satoshi Kuwabara
Series composition	Shin Yoshida
Duel composition	Masahiro Hikokubo
Character design	Hirotoshi Takaya
Monster design	Seiji Handa
Mecha accessory design	Mitsuru Owa
Art director	Takashi Nakamura
Color scheme	Ayami Minowa
CG producer	Futoshi Nagara
CG direction	Tomita Kazunori
Photography director	Kendi Akazawa
Editor	Kajino Masafumi
Sound director	Hiroaki Matsuoka
Sound production cooperation	Jinnan Studio
Music	Conisch Yutaka Minobe Yasufumi Fukuda
Music Production	Marvelous Entertainment
Music collaboration	TV Tokyo Music
Casting cooperation	Ai Ninuma (Neruke Planning)
Anime producer	Furuya Daisuke
Producer	Ryo Sasaki
Anime production	Studio Gallop
Production	TV Tokyo / NAS

External links

• tv-tokyo.co.jp Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL official site