Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond
from Random Anime Reviewer
This is a review of the original Japanese version found in the extras section of the Blu-ray release. The English language version has an extra 10 minutes of footage added to the start of the film which is basically a summary of the three Yugioh shows and their protagonists. In the English version the cards have been edited.
Plot
YGOBBT features the three protagonists of the YGO Duel Monsters, GX and 5Ds shows together in one film. The three protagonist duel against a man named Paradox who is trying to rewrite history in order to prevent an apocalyptic future.
The plot is standard fare for Yugioh. Bad guy wants to destroy the world or carry out an evil plan and the only way to stop him is to play him at a card game and win. Very thin plot that is only there as an excuse to get the three main protagonists together and set up a duel.
Characters
The only Characters that have a main focus are the three main protagonists of each show. Most of the main cast from 5Ds are present as cameo characters, sugoroku muto and Pegasus make cameos from Duel Monsters and Yubel and the teacher whose name I can't remember but is a ghost living in a cat is there too. If you've never seen YGO before all you need to know is these three guys are really good at playing the duel monsters card game. Yugi has a spirit of a dead pharaoh trapped in the puzzle hanging round his neck that he switches to when he duels, Judai went to school dedicated to learning how to play the card game and has some weird spirit called Yubel inside him(that is if you've seen season 4) and Yusei is a signer, a chosen duellist.
Now I'll talk about Paradox and his motivation. He goes around history destroying things in order to prevent a tragedy. All we learn as it was somehow related to the duel monsters card game. His motivation and the incident are left pretty vague.
Animation/Sound
The animation for the most part is pretty good. I watched this on a blu-ray at 1080p and it looked clear and sharp. However some corner cutting was noticeable. Such as characters not having faces and appearing as silhouettes in some scenes. The CG is pretty noticeable and sticks out. Especially the D-Wheels and Stardust Dragon. However fans of the TV show will already be aware of this and won’t throw them off. The card artwork and detail on the monster during the duel was good and the artwork was consistent. The background music should be recognisable to fans of the TV shows as when each character takes their turn their theme plays.
Overall Thoughts and Verdict
Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time is a film made for the fans of the show. It assumes you are familiar with the source material. It's quite a short watch and is quite an enjoyable one. However I feel this was a missed opportunity. There could have been a few more duels, have Yugi experience a riding duel and have the protagonist face each to see what happens. Instead the film is basically a 3 on 1 duel against a cliché antagonist.
7/10 for fans
5/10 for non-fans
Plot
YGOBBT features the three protagonists of the YGO Duel Monsters, GX and 5Ds shows together in one film. The three protagonist duel against a man named Paradox who is trying to rewrite history in order to prevent an apocalyptic future.
The plot is standard fare for Yugioh. Bad guy wants to destroy the world or carry out an evil plan and the only way to stop him is to play him at a card game and win. Very thin plot that is only there as an excuse to get the three main protagonists together and set up a duel.
Characters
The only Characters that have a main focus are the three main protagonists of each show. Most of the main cast from 5Ds are present as cameo characters, sugoroku muto and Pegasus make cameos from Duel Monsters and Yubel and the teacher whose name I can't remember but is a ghost living in a cat is there too. If you've never seen YGO before all you need to know is these three guys are really good at playing the duel monsters card game. Yugi has a spirit of a dead pharaoh trapped in the puzzle hanging round his neck that he switches to when he duels, Judai went to school dedicated to learning how to play the card game and has some weird spirit called Yubel inside him(that is if you've seen season 4) and Yusei is a signer, a chosen duellist.
Now I'll talk about Paradox and his motivation. He goes around history destroying things in order to prevent a tragedy. All we learn as it was somehow related to the duel monsters card game. His motivation and the incident are left pretty vague.
Animation/Sound
The animation for the most part is pretty good. I watched this on a blu-ray at 1080p and it looked clear and sharp. However some corner cutting was noticeable. Such as characters not having faces and appearing as silhouettes in some scenes. The CG is pretty noticeable and sticks out. Especially the D-Wheels and Stardust Dragon. However fans of the TV show will already be aware of this and won’t throw them off. The card artwork and detail on the monster during the duel was good and the artwork was consistent. The background music should be recognisable to fans of the TV shows as when each character takes their turn their theme plays.
Overall Thoughts and Verdict
Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time is a film made for the fans of the show. It assumes you are familiar with the source material. It's quite a short watch and is quite an enjoyable one. However I feel this was a missed opportunity. There could have been a few more duels, have Yugi experience a riding duel and have the protagonist face each to see what happens. Instead the film is basically a 3 on 1 duel against a cliché antagonist.
7/10 for fans
5/10 for non-fans
