Well, 2017 seems like a year that wants to snatch even the last penny out of the pockets of Japanese animation fans, dragging them to large cinemas to watch a multitude of films. After the shoujo masterpiece of Your Name and waiting for the much discussed live action of Ghost in the Shell , out on March 30th, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions : it’s time to step back into the past for a great adventure, so don’t forget to bring decks and duel disks with you. Are you ready to go?

Return of the Duelists

We are sitting in the room, popcorn in hand and we are waiting for nothing but to see our heroes appear on the screen, and our requests will be answered instantly, with the appearance of the stubborn and chic Seto Kaiba , now entirely dedicated to the activities of the his company, the Kaiba Corporation , is intent on coordinating a series of archaeological activities in Egypt, aided by his little brother Mokuba, now his personal assistant. The film is in fact set after the clash between the Pharaoh, Yami Yugi , and Yugi Muto: for those who do not remember this event, our little Yugi must prove to the Pharaoh that he has now become a strong person and ready to take the reins of his life, facing him in a final duel where he will win, and for which Yami will be forced to return in the past, abandoning its contemporary namesake and letting the Millennium Puzzle remain buried under the rubble of the pyramid. Precisely this object is the goal of the very stubborn Seto, who does not want to give up at any cost to his revenge against the Pharaoh for having humiliated him in his time, in reference to the very first episode of the original anime. Later the scene will move to the city of Domino, completely different from how we left it back in 2003: it has been turned upside down, passing from a small town to a representation of the Japanese capital, with some areas even attributable to real areas of the city; but Domino was not the only one to change, since the real change will be that of the group of four friends who for 224 episodes taught us to believe in their companions and in the heart of the cards.

Right from the start, we will notice that our characters have something wrong with them. Starting with Yugi Muto, we notice that his appearance has remained unchanged, but he is definitely taller and with a more defined physique; then moving on to the others we will have an unmistakable Joey Wheeler like every series, with his usual humor and bad luck always lurking on him, Tristan Taylor who has become decidedly more authoritarian and more adult, especially in his behavior. Last but not least, Tea Gardnerit has always remained the same, but with a more decisive tone and more abundant breasts, it keeps the morale of the group high. Why am I telling you all these seemingly useless details? Because here comes one of the real turning points of the film compared to the original series: the characters have grown up, and by now they are eighteen years old struggling with the exams of the last year of high school and undecided about their future and the choices they will make. In fact, we discover that Tea will leave to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer, Tristan is forced to help his father in the family business, Joey will study to become a competitive duelist (is this a reference to the Academy of Duelists of the GX series? ), while Yugi thinks of working in his grandfather’s shop and dedicating himself to inventing new games. Don’t you also notice something strange? In the Yu-Gi-Oh! the school is a place seen a few times, and we never talk about the external interests of the characters, but only about the events related to the Duel Monsters; and you know, anyone as a child has wondered at least once “but Yugi and his friends never go to school? “. We had the answer thirteen years later, in a perfect modernization and correction of the film with respect to the times and the series.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions shows us how the authors have been able to perfectly adapt the world already known years ago with the times and current Japanese animation: for the more attentive, there are many elements that were absent at the time and that have now been included , but without seeming too much or strangers: I am referring to small things like the life of the protagonists in the city, moving around the streets of Domino, their daily commitments, the time management typical of high school students … all this adds that sense of realismwhich was missing from the series and which now manages to completely intrigue the nostalgic viewer. The fact that the group of friends go out together after lessons or on free days is not a strange cost if you think about it, and above all it allows the player to see himself more inserted in the context of Duel Monsters, a passion cultivated in parallel with his duties. The events of the entire feature film take place during only four days (most likely from Thursday to Sunday), taking up that time that our protagonists did not take once they completed their school duties, except for Seto Kaiba who we remember left his studies for devote himself entirely to his company. Right at school our friends will come into contact with Aigami, a somewhat mysterious boy in their class,

It’s time to DUEL!

Let’s now instead analyze the duels, an important component of the film but not oppressive as in other cases, where the challenges dominated the narration of the plot outside the Duel Monsters. We immediately notice that the film was made on the basis of what are the real games of Yu-Gi-Oh! , leaving aside the raw and “incorrect” plays of the anime, and moving on to real clashes with deck combos, series of traps and counter-traps continuously activated and formations of monsters that are logically correct and still used in competitive games , without changing the original decks of our two main protagonists: Yugi very loyal to his Enchanters and reckless Seto Kaiba with his dragons, to which he has added new forms and versions, increasingly complex and powerful, based on the basic model of the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so much so that some would have expected the evocation of Stardust Dragon during the film, given the disproportionate amount of monsters of the aforementioned type, and I admit that I too thought about it for a moment. In the film a slightly different combat system is used from the one we know, so much so that even our protagonists will not be familiar with it: the Dimensional Duel is in fact a type of clash with different rules from the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! style, since tributes are not necessary for the summons of high-level monsters, they are charged with the player’s spiritual strength and once destroyed the owner suffers damage equal to the statistic of the position in which the monster was, so even playing in Defense it is possible to suffer considerable damage; Obviously, however, the duels with the classic style of Duel Monsters, played by our heroes, are not absent. 
Summing up, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions is a great movie for all fans of the series(for those who were not aware of the previous facts it would be difficult to follow) that I would not hesitate to define the film as all of us who saw the series at the time would have imagined it: not a series based on a card game, but on some people who play a certain card game, with their life, commitments and interests and not only devoted to Duel Monsters. The clashes are difficult to judge given the alternative mode of duels inserted in the film, even if pertinent to the plot, but they are certainly worthy of good plays, reasoned and studied. The characters are characterized in an excellent way, inserted in the context of their everyday life as if they were real people in a masterly way, allowing the viewer to feel part of the story too. Too bad only for some small details a bit discordant with the logic of the series, which undermine the judgment of the most precise and meticulous, but which for others can be easily passable. Definitely a must see for all those who have seen the original anime, practically a must, hoping that it will revive in them all the emotions it aroused in me at the time, a child who looked at his Black Magician with admiration and who dreamed of being able to challenge someone to a real duel once they grow up.