Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX (遊☆戯☆王デュエル モンスターズGX Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu GX) is an anime spinoff of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise.

Produced by Nihon Ad Systems Inc., or NAS for short, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX started airing on TV Tokyo in Japan on October 6, 2004. The anime is licensed by 4Kids Entertainment.

The TV show airs on Cartoon Network in the United States (Saturdays at 7:30pm), on 4kids tv (saturdays at 8:30 A.M.)also in the United states, in Australia on Network Ten (weekdays at 7:30am), in Canada on YTV (Saturdays at 12:00pm), in Ireland on RTÉ 2 (weekdays at 3:20pm), and in the UK on ITV2 (weekdays at 8:25am) and Nicktoons UK (every day at 6:00pm).

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, a manga spinoff of the series written by Kazuki Takahashi and illustrated by Naoyuki Kageyama, is published in Shueisha's V-Jump magazine in Japan. The manga appears in the United States Shonen Jump magazine.

Themes and structure

Although the first half of the anime's first season began on a whimsical note, the latter half established a noticeably darker atmosphere by introducing supernatural elements similar to those present in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, such as magic, the Shadow Games, and various myths, along with Judeo-Christian subtext. The second season had a strong thematic presence built on destiny, with ties to the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft and associated horror fiction authors writing in the Lovecraftian horror, and drew on space opera as a plot device. The third season continued this trend, but with much greater emphasis on emotional torment, alternate dimension's serving as its primary settings. The third season is easily the darkest, with large number of the main cast appearing to die over the course. Even though they later return, they are believed by the viewer to be dead. The fourth season continues character-driven plotlines established in the first season, such as Chazz's desire to duel professionally, and the students that vanished in the abandoned dormitory.

The program is divided into episodes classified as "Turns". The title sequence and closing credits are accompanied by lyrics varying over the course of the series, with the former immediately followed by an individual episode's number and title. Eyecatches begin and end commercial breaks halfway through each episode; in the first season, there were two eyecatches per episode, usually showcasing the opponents and their key monsters for a given episode while in later seasons, a single eyecatch appears with only the duelists. After the credits, a preview of the next episode, narrated most frequently by KENN and Masami Suzuki, is made, followed by a brief "Today's Strongest Card" segment.

In the English version, the title sequence is accompanied by the song "Get Your Game On!", as are the end credits (in a shortened form). Eyecatches, previews, and the "Today's Strongest Card" featurette are removed entirely.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX begins with the lead character, Jaden Yuki obtaining a card, Winged Kuriboh, from Yugi Mutou, the renowned Duel Monsters champion. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX follows the exploits of Jaden and his companions as he attends Duel Academy (Duel Academia).

The Academy was created by Seto Kaiba on a remote island in the Southern Seas, with its dormitories named after the three Egyptian God Cards, and is run by Chancellor Sheppard 「Samejima」 and his staff. The most elaborate dormitory, Obelisk Blue 「オベリスク・ブルー Oberisuku Burū」, is named after "Obelisk the Tormentor". The Obelisk Blue dormitory can be graduated to, but the only way to enter the dorm in the first year is to attend and do well at an affiliated junior school (English version only). As the highest ranked dormitory, Obelisk Blue's facilities are of the highest quality, on the level of the world's classiest hotels and restaurants. The center dorm, Ra Yellow 「ラー・イェロー Rā Ierō」, is named after "The Winged Dragon of Ra". Those who were given the highest scores in the entrance exam, or who only did mediocrely in the junior school enter this dormitory, which, while not as extravagant as Obelisk Blue, still has incredibly clean and well-kept facilities and meals of a quality far above the lifestyle of the average salaryman. The lowest dorm, Slifer Red (Osiris Red) 「オシリス・レッド Oshirisu Reddo」, is named after "Slifer the Sky Dragon". Those who scored poorly are put into the shoddy dorms of Slifer Red. The naming choices reflect Kaiba's bias over the God Cards in relation to his rivalry with Yugi (Obelisk was Kaiba's own personal card in Battle City, while Slifer was Yugi's, with Ra smack in the middle as the most desirable card out of the three until Yugi received it at the end of the story arc).

For the first two years at Duel Academy, the main cast faces major threats including the Shadow Riders (Seven Stars), who intend to revive the Sacred Beasts by creating a strong dueling presence on the island, as well as the Society of Light, which intends to enslave humanity with the mind control satellite of Misgarth, while the aim is to destroy the world with the satellite in the original version. As a result of Professor Viper's interference, Duel Academy is transported to another world, a desert plane with three suns and resident Duel Monster spirits during the third year–right into the hands of Yubel. Upon returning home, Jaden and a select group of his partners dive into the rift left in their escape to recover their missing companions, and embark through second and third worlds where losing a duel is fatal. In their fourth year, the characters largely reflect upon their upcoming graduation and what to do afterwards, such as Alexis considering becoming a teacher, and Syrus taking up his brother's legacy as a Cyber-style duelist. A villain named Trueman also appears and is somehow connected to Atticus and the abandoned dormitory. Later it is shown that Trueman was being controlled by a dark force called Nightshroud, previously a secondary antagonist from the first season.

遊☆戯☆王デュエル モンスターズ (WARRIORS)