Review: Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series

Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series by littlekuriboh  (complete, finally)

Notes: Mild spoilers ahead.  No like, no read.  Also, I’m going to use the English dub names because, well, they’re shorter.  And I don’t feel like writing out “Jounouchi” all the time.  “Ryou” refers to the nice guy, while “Bakura” refers to the guy in the Ring.  However, whenever the characters say “Bakura”, they’re speaking to whichever one is currently present.  And when they say “Kaiba”, they’re referring to Seto, not his little brother.  (This is because in Japan, you only use the person’s first name if you’re really close to them, i.e. really close friends or family members.  Therefore, calling Seto by his first name implies familiarity, which we all know is impossible for anyone except Mokuba which to them would be rude.)

Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series is a series of episodes created by littlekuriboh and posted on YouTube.  Each episode takes two or three episodes from the real series and condenses them into a four-minute spoof.  And since I’m too tired (and my memory is too small) to do a real review, I’ll just do a list format.  Highlight for spoilers.  You can follow this series on its own, but if you follow the original series, it makes this all the more hilarious.

STUFF I LIKE

1. The ridiculous summaries of the shows.
2. Character exaggeration.  Tristan acts like an absolute idiot, Tea is a ditz ( wait – nothing changes), and Yugi is beyond unrealistically naive.
3. The fourth wall does not exist in this show; it is broken every single episode.
4. Slice of reality: the characters routinely reference the fact that they are playing a children’s card game.  Also Yugi proves in Episode 14 that *the good guy does not always win*, which some people just don’t seem to get.
5. Ryou and how ridiculously British they make him out to be.  Heck, just Ryou by himself.
6. Bandit Keith constantly referring to the fact that he’s American.  I mean, we really do think we’re better than everyone else.  We could stand to be taken down a notch or two.  What makes this even more hilarious is that we eventually find out *he’s really Canadian*.
7. Yugi whenever he gets pissed.  I mean, come on, the kid’s a chibi.  Have you ever seen a kitten hissing at something three times its size?  That’s what he looks like.

STUFF I DON’T LIKE

1. Language issues.  Lots of ‘em, but the really bad stuff is bleeped out.
2. Inappropriate references.  Even more of them.
3. People picking on Ryou for his British-ness and the fact that he’s a minor character.  Come on, I like the guy!  Plus I know what it’s like to be picked on, so…
4. Mai being in the show in the first place.  She serves no purpose other than fanservice.
5. Pegasus.  ‘Nuff said.  Has anyone else noticed that he crosses his legs like a girl?

EPISODE SUMMARIES

Episode 1: Yami wipes the floor with Seto.
Episode 2: Tristan turns into Barney, and Joey gets special training.
Episode 3: Everyone stows away to avoid Mr. Pointy-hair.
Episode 4: Yugi/Yami get some revenge on Weevil.  Kill the volume from 3:10 to 3:24 and you’ll be good.
Episode 5: Joey and Mai go head-to-head in a very anticlimactic duel.
Episode 6: Mokuba learns about stealing, and Seto “dies”.
Episode 7: Seto comes back as a ghost.  Or not.
Episode 8: Joey and Tristan get in a catfight.  No joke.
Episode 9: Everyone gets turned into action figures.  Click here to view an Elfwood spoof comic about this episode.
Episode 10: Mai gets her butt kicked, and Yami becomes a pyro.
Episode 11: Seto wipes the floor with Joey, since Yami’s too smart to lose his temper.
Episode 12: Joey duels zombies and learns about America.
Episode 13: Yami and Joey team up to defeat the Chinese Olympic gymnastics team.
Episode 14: Yami and Kaiba once again go for each others’ throats… and things turn ugly.
Episode 15: Tea annoys Mai into surrendering a duel, and Star Wars invades the show.
Episode 16: Apparently the dinner was bad, because everyone has really weird dreams.
Episode 17: Semifinals!  And it gets ugly again.
Episode 18: Ryou gets ditched by… everyone.  Except Yami, who’s too busy focusing on a children’s card game.
Episode 19: The plot starts to appear, and they all live happily ever after.  Even Seto, if you can believe that.
Episode 20: Yugi fights a little girl and her possessed teddy bear.
Episode 21: Everyone plays video games!
Episode 22: Duke Devlin aka bishi-boy shows up.
Episode 23: Mr. America shows up again.
Episode 24: Ishezu finally reveals the plot!
Episode 25: Yami learns why so many dating relationships break up.
Episode 25.5: The first meeting of the Yu-Gi-Oh villains is convened.
Crapsule Monsters (Side Episode): The gang goes to India, expecting to meet Pocahontas.  Unfortunately, this is a huge cliffhanger, and there are no further episodes at this time.
Episode 26: Seto undertakes the difficult task of actually learning how to play this card game.

And as a little bonus for you all (in place of a 3,000 hits picture, ’cause I don’t have one), here’s a link to Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Movie!  Also by littlekuriboh, only about a half-hour long.  I haven’t watched it yet, so no clue what’s in it.

EDIT 1.22.08: Found Episode 26 on the Abridged Series website and have linked to it, though it won’t let me link to the individual video.  Thanks!