Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Was Ahead of Its Time

I absolutely loved how Jack and Yusei’s color schemes are opposite of their dragons like it shows they’re two sides of the same coin

As much respect I give to Little Kuriboh, I kinda do think the whole "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLE" meme kinda hurt this series since now no one really takes it seriously

Another interesting bit of writing in this show is why Yusei is so self-sacrificing. At the beginning of the anime, it's not necessarily because he's just that guy and cares about friendship that much, it's because his father invented the technology that caused the Zero Reverse that split New Domino City. He feels personally responsible for the societal problems around him and is trying to atone for those sins.

5ds is in my opinion probably the peak of Yu-Gi-Oh it's so well done.

I think it’s worth mentioning that yusei has 2 aces. One being his ideal self (stardust dragon) and his true self (junk warrior) stardust dragon is a martyr with this legendary destiny that must carry all burdens, while junk warrior a catalyst for change. A pile of scraps that is only as strong as the allies around it.

5ds was a childs peak yugioh. Real goofy style but nothing short of complete emotion. YOU FELT EVERY CHARACTER. No one fell short of being a main character. Still my favorite yugioh

Fun Fact: 5Ds was originally only slated for 2 seasons originally. The Dark Signers arc WAS the intended end of the show. But part way through, TVTokyo ordered 2 more seasons be made. That's why before the WRGP Arc starts the show kinda just wonders around with no story for a while, they WERE just filling time slots and trying to figure out what else to add to pad out the newly ordered seasons.

As a kid, I always thought Yugioh on motorcycles was cool. As an adult, I think it's the coolest idea Yugioh ever had.

Yusei has one of the most impactful lines in the English dub. ..."I'll have some milk"

14:35 kiryu wasn't released from prison, he died in there and was brought back to life by the god of death

5ds was peak yu gi oh. They cut back on last min cards and actually showed strategy. Villains had great decks not to mention snycro summoning one of the coolest way of summoning

Something that I still laugh about when thinking of the series is that at first, Yusei had his crew from the satellite. Then, he proceeded to completely ditch them and get the signers as his new squad lol.

5Ds really finished strong. I still cry at Bruno's death, or more accurately, Yusei's response to it, and the duel vs Z-One is still one of my favorites.

The best part of 5Ds starts around when Aporia shows up, episode 134. It is insane not to have brought that part up, since it is the wrapup to like 15 years of storytelling across the original 3 yugioh ANIMES. Z-ONE and Aporia themselves being the two best characters in 5Ds. Episode 134-154 is 5Ds at its absolute best. Of course, that still leaves like 80 episodes where nothing really happens except that fun Crashtown mini arc. But most of those episodes are indeed the anime spinning its wheels because the key members of the writing team were working on the Bonds Beyond Time movie. Also, insane to me how you mention how the cards represent the characters but didn't mention Junk Warrior. It's explicitly pointed out a couple times in the anime that Junk Warrior is Yusei with how it gets its strength from the weak monsters around it. It and Stardust Dragon show the different aspects of Yusei's character: his friends give him strength and he's willing to sacrifice himself to protect them. Then, in the finale, it's Junk Warrior, not Stardust Dragon, that defeats Red Dragon Archfiend and allows his friends to leave Neo Domino City to go live their lives. He is done sacrificing himself.

Can we just admire how good yusei's japanese voice actor is

Also Yusei Stardust Dragon matches the D-Wheel that Jack stole from him. Yusei’s new D-Wheel matches Red Dragon Archfiend. Jack’s robes are Stardust colors whereas Yusei’s are RDA

5D's dub had some of the best lines. "Is that Joey Wheeler?" "No, that's his cousin, Jesse Wheeler." Or when Yusei had gone missing and Crow casually mentioned he got a phone call from someone who very matter-of-factly told him they had Yusei and he didn't think to bring it up earlier, Akiza's response was hilarious. "I'm gonna cobble you, Crow!" Jack: "I believe you mean 'clobber'. To cobble is to make shoes." Akiza: "Whatever! Then I'm going to cobble some shoes and use them to kick Crow's butt!"

It's always been really funny to me that "card games on motorcycles" of all things is somehow a bridge too far. Yu-Gi-Oh style hair? Ok. Cheap mass-produced cardboard having magical powers? Ok. Structuring all of society around a children's card game? Ok. Card games on motorcycles? Whoa whoa whoa, stop having fun, that makes no sense! 😭 Personally, I applaud the creative team for having the wisdom and courage to say "Screw it, none of this makes any sense anyway, we're going to have card games on motorcycles and you can't stop us."

Synchro Summoning is easily my favourite summoning mechanic in the game, Yusei is by FAR my favourite protagonist and 5D's plot/themes (in specific, I REALLY like how Yusei/Jack's progress is portrayed through Stardust Dragon/RDA's evolution and/or their card effects). You're so right about the symbolism, it's a make-or-break part of the series and BOY did it make it! Maybe I'm wrong, but I personally haven't felt the same level of depth from any other arc. Even the Dark Signers all fell into place within the Signer's past and the both of them change one-another in the past and throughout the series- for better of worse- like pieces of a puzzle that just kind of click into place. I kinda agree that the Duel Runners going on auto-pilot ruins half the fun of the duel, but to be honest, if they focused on EVERY duel being manual, i don't think I'd enjoy the severity and danger of the few manual duels as much. I disliked the Z-ONE arc and beyond, because as you said, some of the development is just completely ignored/forgotten. It doesn't run with (most of) the same themes either, but we DID get Accel Synchro Summoning and Bruno/Antimony from those arcs, so I can't complain at all. I think 5D's definitely could (and should) have ended right then and there after the Dark Signers arc because the arc was just THAT conclusive, but I still think at the very least that the origin for Z-ONE and whatnot was a neat concept. We also got some neat Synchro Summoning mechanics/characters/iconic moments from it in the end, so zero complaints here. Yusei also started off playing a deck literally picked from thrown-away cards, which vibed with how /I/ started, literally picking random cards from my friend's massive pile of cards that he said he'd never play in the playground. I will never forget how important 5D's is to me, even if nobody else in my childhood really shares that feeling. Thank you for the video. It was well-put together, nostalgia fuel for SURE, and a joy from start to finish

Of course it was! Besties were playing cardgames on motorcycles, very ahead of its time