Yu-Gi-Oh! DDM/Battle City Anime vs Manga Discussion

[Dr Kain]

As I continue my rewatch and reread of Yu-Gi-Oh!, it is time to discuss the differences between the manga and anime versions of both Dungeon Dice Monsters and Battle City.

It is amazing at how little of the story was adapted into the anime for Otogi and DDM. I really prefer the way the manga did it as it made Otogi feel more like a tragic character rather than just a spiteful spoiled brat. Not only that, but we never actually found out who the dude Otogi was with in the anime since it was clearly not his father. Another thing I did not like the anime was the additional of Duel Monsters monsters included in the game. Sure, it made sense since Pegasus put his touch in the game, but how did he manage to pass that by without Otogi's knowledge? And how did Yugi just happen to know it was a Black Magician? There are just too many things that do not make sense in the anime version.

Oddly enough, they decided to take the concept of the black room in Otogi's store and combine it with the main story of the anime, but with a brainwashed Bandit Keith and in a warehouse. That just seems so random and awkward. Plus, what was the point of even bothering with Bandit Keith when he did absolutely nothing in the first place?

Battle City itself is quite great in both versions, but I do prefer the speedier duels in the manga. I do feel like the duels between Yugi/Kaiba/Dark Mask/Light Mask and Yugi/Jounouchi are an episode too long, but they are still good. My favorite duel goes to the one against Pandora as it is enjoyable in both formats. I do prefer Kaiba dropping the key in the water to Jounouchi over Shizuka jumping in to save him is just funnier. Oh yeah, and I also prefer Kaiba's line after throwing BEWD at the Ghouls dude's hand in the manga, as he says something like, "Damn, your blood got onto my card." They really should have had him say that in the anime.

Now one thing I do like done better in the anime is the duel between Bakura and Ghost. That duel itself is just really cool and great to watch. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the Jean Claude Magnum episode, as it not only sucks, but is boring as crap.

Sadly, there are a few things that just do not make much sense in the anime version for me. First off, Jounouchi knows in the battle against the Exodia Deck dude that he needs to tribute summon level 5+ monsters. Suddenly, he does not know that in the duel with Esper Roba. Secondly, time is just weird. In the manga Battle City takes place two days after Kaiba announces it. However, in the anime, he says it will be one week from his announcement, but when Yugi and Jounouchi go to get their duel disks, Yugi says the tournament is tomorrow and that it was announced yesterday. Also, the anime seems to imply that Battle City is a two day event as everything seems to be the next day at the beginning of the episode when Jounouchi goes to duel Insector Haga instead of a single day one.

There are other things I could nitpick about, but those are the ones that really stuck in my mind throughout the entire thing because they just don't work well for me. The same goes for the ability to watch the duels on the internet, but whatever. Overall, once again I definitely feel the manga is superior, but the duels are enjoyable in both versions and the main purpose of the story remains the same.

So what are your thoughts on this arc between the anime and manga? Do you prefer one over the other?

 

[Dr Kain]

I watched the Battle Ship episodes today (episodes 82-97) and they are great, but compared to the manga, they are a mixed bag. I kind of prefer the Bakura duel in the anime since I just love the deck Bakura uses, but the Mai/Malik duel is pretty bad. It isn't bad because it is a terrible duel, but it is so dumbed down compared to the manga. And I mean really dumbed down. I don't even get some of the things altered between the manga and the anime as there was nothing wrong with the way it was done in the manga. The Jonouchi/Rishid duel drags on a little too long in the anime, but I love how Jonouchi claims the duel will be over in 11 turns and it really is in both versions. Another thing I like better in the anime is Malik's transformation into Yami Malik. The music and audio really help make it seem as creepy as it showed be. My favorite duel between the lot though is the one between Kaiba and Isis, which is great in both versions. Unfortunately, the anime stretches out the duel between Malik and Bakura, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with it, some of the things that occur in the duel are pretty pointless. There was no reason to have Bakura get Ra and summon him just for him to die in the anime. It was better with none of that happening as in the manga.

Well, now my read and viewings are going to get massively spread apart as I'm currently in the Jounouchi/Malik duel of the semi-finals for the manga while I am a few episodes into the Noa arc. As such, there is no way in the Dark Realm I am going to be anywhere close to the Pharaoh's Memories arc in the anime when I am reading the manga, even if I read R first.

 

[Dr Kain]

So I watched all of the Battle City Finals episodes over the last few days and while they are over all amazing, once again the anime needlessly drags them out. First off, there was no reason the Battle Royal episodes needed to be three episodes in length. The whole thing is like three chapters long so that is one episode per chapter. Nevertheless, they do a nice job of following the manga quite here so I have very little to complain about outside of its length.

The same goes for the Jounouchi vs Malik duel. Although, I really feel like the writers dumbing Mai's punishment for losing against Malik really takes away from how dire it is that Jounouchi wins. Now this duel could have been down in two episodes, but it is fine the way it is.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the Yugi/Kaiba duel. The duel itself is the second best duel in the entire series, but for some reason the writers felt it was stretch these episodes out to six episodes. There simply no reason for it. We did not need this pointless Jounouchi subplot of him dreaming about being at the tournament from before Duelist Kingdom as it is unneeded exposition. It serves nothing to the plot of the arc and just distracts the viewer from the fated duel. They also seemed to kind of make Priest Seto during the flashback scene seem more of a dbag than the manga does, which kind of sucks since Priest Seto is one of my favorite characters in the series. That aside, this duel should have been four episodes at the most with all of the bland fluff taken out. I love how much these guys are able to out do one another on a constant basis. It really makes it feel like such an epic duel.

Of course, nothing is as annoying as the pointless Jounouchi/Kaiba duel. Hell, even Kaiba admits that this whole duel was a waste of time, which is exactly what it was. Even with it not being in the manga you know Kaiba is not going to lose to Jounouchi and there is hardly anything to get excited about. Not to mention it makes no sense having Malik take over Anzu's body to confront Yami Malik when they still have Yami Malik amazed that Malik's soul is still in Anzu during his duel against Yugi. None of this battle makes any sense, especially when they start the duel at the top of the tower and then are suddenly down on the ground in the rubble. Ooooooooooooooooookay.

Finally, I give the writers props for the Malik/Yugi duel as they did an excellent job on animating this one. It is the third best duel in the series and an epic one at that as we finally get to see the villain of the arc duel Yugi. The anime does a great job with it and even though the flashbacks are a little much, they don't feel like they are there to waste the running time. I also have to say that I kind of prefer the way the anime has Yugi summon all of his monsters as opposed to just using Black Magician and Black Magician Girl in the manga.

Unfortunately, the last two episodes are dragged in flashback hell as we have to see all of the highlights from the duels throughout the arc just to end the thing. I do like the farewell sequence though with Otogi and Mai in the anime. I am glad to see that they did not feel the need to actually show the duel between Yugi and Jounouchi as I feel it would take away from the mystery of how the battle actually transpired. Did Jounouchi win? How quickly did Yugi defeat him? The world will never know.

Overall, the anime does a great job translating the duels from comic to animation but does a poor job on the pacing of the episodes themselves. Instead of getting duels that flow nicely together, we get duels that are interrupted by needless pandering. I love watching the duels take place, but there is just too much other stuff going on in between them that makes them take longer to finish. It also does not help that the next episode, which is the true finale to Battle City in the anime is just a god damned clip show. UGH!!!!

Oh, is it just me, or does it seem like the animation took to a dip in quality during this arc?