Review of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal

9/10

Recommended

May 04, 2017

2 min read

56 reactions

Now, now, ZEXAL. The thing with ZEXAL is that if you do not dig the aesthetic, you will have a hard time watching it, especially if you want ~edge~ in your children's card games. Anyway. On with it. Story - 6. It's a card game anime. It's pretty straightforward, really. A pokemon-esque treasure hunt, one tournament; an underlying purpose and other worlds. It's hard to rate it here because without ZEXAL II, said treasure hunt doesn't lead much anywhere. Art - 7. ZEXAL is the prettiest YGO. Some animation is *really* wonky (episode 1 and 2 are unfortunate examples), some is vaguely bad (like the ep whereKaito is naked) but only in the sense that everything looks sorta chibi but sharp-faced. But then you have gems like 58 and 10 and overall relative consistency in a 73-episode show which, not bad.

Sound - 10. The OST is a thing. It's amazing. The VAs - especially the ones for the main trio - do an amazing job. OPs and EDs are stellar. OST is used tastefully. It's good.

Characters - 9. Alright, let me get one thing straight: Kotori is not a main character. The Numbers Club are not main characters. Stop treating them as if they are. Kotori is major supporting at best since she's relatively three-dimensional, but the Numbers Club are all flat and should not be used as standard for characterization judgement, as you judge a show for its real characters and not its background kids.

Ryouga was stellar, no other words for him. He develops immensely while staying true to his initial characterization and I'd sit here forever if I kept talking about him so I'll leave it at that.

Kaito and Yuuma are amazing as well, as well as their respective interactions with each other and Ryouga. Especially with Yuuma and Kaito subverting the rival/protag tropes.

Astral was good for what he was, but is clearly a matter of taste imho. Kotori did her job but could've had less screen time.

Enjoyment - 9. The fillers got in the way, but that's normal for card game anime.

Overall - 9. Not as good as ZEXAL II, but, y'know.