The Yu-Gi-Oh Franchise From Least Favorite to Favorite

Yes, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is my least favorite series. To all of the Genwunners of Yugioh who quit watching the series after GX saying it and the original are the only good series come at me. Before people say anything like "I wasn't around to experience it, therefore have no right to judge it" or "You're just a kid who doesn't know what he's talking about and missed out on a deal with GX" no, just no. I was TEN when Yugioh GX came to the US, I had a few E-Heroes cards, and I would watch GX every day after school on Cartoon Network and Saturday mornings. As a kid I LOVED GX. Now fast forward 10 years later and without my nostalgia goggle it doesn't hold up very well.

The thing that kills GX for me is that it's just one HUGE inconsistent/kiddish mess. HALF of the first season is nothing but one shot episodes that don't even matter to the overall story and even when they establish the plot it still delves away from it and does something completely different. It ONE-HUNDRED PLUS episodes of a ONE-HUNDERED EIGHTY episode series to get serious and establish a good an interesting plot. Even then it wasn't staggeringly amazing. A majority of it's main cast (Or pretty much the entire main cast) were boring and bland individuals. Hell in the MAIN PROTAGONIST Judai-Kun is a one dimensional character for 3/4 of the series and when he finally does get developed he becomes an *beep* (he has his moments but overall an *beep* not to mention he hogs 70-80% of the screentime). The only characters I liked were supporting characters who appear every so often. As a kid I loved this series but now I still like it for it's 2nd half but this is a decent series AT BEST.

6/10

Recommended Duels

Judai vs. Yugi Kaiser vs. Yubel Judai vs. Yubel Judai vs. Kaiser

So far the latest Yugioh series is shaping up to be an amazing one. I didn't know this series existed until about 6 months ago and it was at ep. 80 I believe at the time and I binged watch all 80 episodes at the time in LESS THAN A WEEK so far it's just that good. Since this is still an ongoing series (100 Episodes on the date I made this list: April 7th, 2016) and we still have another year at the least since Yugioh series generally end around this time of the year I'll guess by April next year Arc-V will be over or it'll be close to wrapping up.

But since I'm not spoiling anything I'll just say: It has amazing writing, a VERY interesting lead character, the best female lead we've had since 5Ds, a cool rival, and the fact that EVERY Extra Deck mechanic (Fusion, Synchro, XYZ, & Pendulum) Play an important part in the story helps as well. Not to mention if you enjoyed past series you'll be delighted to know that this is essentially serving as a 20th anniversary series to the franchise by having older characters make a return. So far Jack & Crow from 5Ds have reappeared and had big roles in the series, Alexis Rhodes & Aster Phoenix from GX are scheduled to appear, and Kaito Tenjo from Zexal is scheduled to appear. So far this is a surprisingly good series. I never expected it to be as good as it is. So far it' VERY close to claiming the #2 Position and could very well claim #1 by the time it's over.

8/10 (I could bump it up in the future depending on how the rest of this series goes).

EDIT: April 15th, 2017 - The series ended a little over 2 weeks ago and my word....how does a series with so much potential end so badly....The closure for it's characters was horrendous, the plot just ran wild after the main antagonist was defeated they had EIGHT episodes of remaining after the main crisis has been solved and they spent that time doing random and completely pointless BS instead giving it's characters the proper closure they needed. Arc-V isn't the worst series but it is the most disappointing series to date with the WORST ending. 6/10

Recommended Duels

Yuya vs. Jack (Friendship Cup Finals) Crow vs. Kurosaki Kurosaki vs. Dennis Yuya vs. Reiji Kurosaki vs. Sora Yugo vs. Serena

*GASP* "How DARE you put that *beep* series known as Zexal above the greatness from my childhood that is GX?!?"

Yes, I like Yugioh Zexal more than Yugioh GX. However Zexal suffers from similar issues that GX has. Namely being an initially bad story and unlikeable characters. The first 73 episodes of Zexal are what really turn fans away from this series. They are a little slow at first but once the Archlight Family shows up (Or around Ep. 30 or so) things to start to pick up and get a little interesting. The last half of Zexal however is SOOO good, it's honestly one of my favorite Yugioh Story Arcs. Another problem being it's characters. Like with Judai-Kun in GX, Yuma-Kun in Zexal has a HUGE entourage of characters following him around and only 3 of those characters are really interesting and the best thing about that is that 2 of those characters are his rival and his right hand man (along with the right hand man's sister) but everyone else even the MAIN PROTAGONIST Yuma-Kun himself I don't care about it. Yuma however does have some good development going from a terrible duelist into an amazing one.

It has some decent duels (I highly recommend the 2nd to last duel of the series: Yuma vs. Nasch as imo that is one of the best duels of the entire Yugioh franchise as a whole). Overall Zexal is better than what most people credit for and if you haven't seen don't listen to the negative things others say about it. You should watch it for yourself to judge it (or at least the last half of the series or "Zexal II"). It has a TERRIBLE, put you to sleep first half but the final half was just so good that it gained an edge of GX.

Overall: 7.5/10

Recommended Duels

Yuma vs. Nasch Yuma vs. Tron Yuma vs. III Shark vs. VI Nasch vs. VI Yuma vs. Kaito (Duel Carnival) Kaito vs. Misael

*GASP* "You *beep* bastard, son of a bitch!! "HOW could you put the holy, almighty Duel Monsters at the SECOND best series when it should be NUMBER ONE?!?!?"

Yes, the original is my 2nd favorite Yugioh series but that doesn't mean it's terrible. Even now after 15+ years imo the original Yugioh series is still one of the best series to date with an excellent story, the OG Protagonist Yugi, along with Kaiba and Joey oh the memories but even my nostalgia with this series won't save it from the flaws it has. Duel Monsters has the flaw of having only 3 characters who actually do anything. Everyone else there is just there because you need more than 3 characters. Not to mention almost half of this series is filler and most of that filler (or half of it at least) is BAD, VERY BAD. It's rules are completely broken and I honestly think it's overrated. Yugi himself is overrated. Yes he was the King of Games in his time but Yusei won a similar title and has similar accolades to Yugi. As far as the anime goes Yugi will always be the best duelist but in a real game Yusei, Yuma, & Yuya would thoroughly hand Yugi his ass on a silver platter.

Overall the original series is still one of the better ones.

8/10

Recommended Duels

Yugi vs. Kaiba (Battle City) Yugi & Kaiba vs. Dartz Kaiba/Yugi vs. Noah Yugi or Joey vs. Marik Kaiba vs. Zigfried

OH MAI FREAKIN' GOSH!!! THIS SERIES (So Far) IS SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!! I'm not a fan of having a recap episode EVERY EIGHT EPISODES (seriously that is so aggravating), but this series is so far amazing.

Yusaku/Playmaker is a total savage. The plot is interesting. Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains is essentially the 2nd Coming of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds having a similar dark tone and different form of duels with Speed Dueling, but so far it's actually half and half between Speed Dueling (Dueling on D-Boards) or Master Duels (Traditional Standing Duels). Aoi/Blue Angel is the most interesting female lead since Akiza, Emma is waifu material and a fairly interesting character, Revolver is a BOSS rival character.

We're only 46 (so far as of March 28th, 2018) and this series seriously has potential to be the best series. So far it's on par with Duel Monsters, but not quite as good as 5Ds.

8/10 (So Far)

Recommended Duels

Playmaker vs. Blue Angel Playmaker vs. Revolver (Round 1) Playmaker vs. Akira Blue Angel vs. Baira Blue Angel vs. Spectre Playmaker vs. Spectre Playmaker vs. Revolver (Round 2)

CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYLES!!!!

Yes I'm being serious when I say Yugioh 5Ds is definitely the best Yugioh series. Yugioh 5Ds has the best set of main characters WHO ALL have a purpose to the story, they all have a personality, and they're all developed. The story of 5Ds itself is the best written story in the entire franchise. The first 64 episodes of this series are PERFECT, everything else afterwards is in no way bad (Except for about a dozen filler episodes) but they have a noticeable drop in quality but for the most part they are still very good. Yusei is the embodiment of what a Yugioh Protagonist should be. People hate him for his constant friendship speeches but given the fact that the Yugioh franchise is about bonds/friendships and the backstory of EVERY main character and the meaning of Yusei's name they're right on the money and Yusei has every right to give a friendship speech.

The duels in 5Ds are among some of the best in the franchise (Don't let the Riding Duels turn you away, I myself thought it was an INCREDIBLY stupid idea at first but once you get past it they're actually pretty cool really). Jack Atlas is a nice throwback to Kaiba but he has more development as a character, Crow is a diet version of Joey if you will but more likeable. Akiza/Aki is the BEST female lead we've had so far (despite her character demotion), Leo & Luna are really good characters especially for little kids in a Yugioh series.

5Ds has a truly excellent story, amazing duels, and GREAT characters (Hell Yusei and Akiza are HEAVILY implied to be in love and get together at the end of the series and that's something we NEVER or hardly ever see in this franchise, even Yusei's VA believes they get together or they will). Overall 5Ds imo is ALMOST perfect. If a few characters got a little more development and no filler episodes I'd say it is perfect.

9/10

Recommended Duels Yusei vs. Aporia Yusei vs. Z-One Yusei vs. Jack (Fortune Cup) Crow, Jack, & Yusei vs. Goodwin Yusei vs. Akiza