Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is a sequel of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series as most would know. The game of Duel Monsters has gotten so popular that there are pro leagues as well as specialized schools to mainly train and teach students to become great duelists. It's an interesting setting and did intrigue me.
The story follows after a young boy named Yuki Judai, who just starts to attend an elite Duel Monsters school called, "Duel Academia" The school is divided in three different classes, "Obelisk Blue", "Ra Yellow" and "Osiris Red" (the names should sound familiar for those who watched the original series). It is basically dividing students into their skill levels, Osiris Red being the lowest class, Ra Yellow in the middle and the Obelisk Blue, consisting of the school's best duelists.
The series starts off with a lighter tone, just following Judai and his life in school as he makes new friends. But as the story progresses, it does get deeper and more complex. I felt that there were quite a few story elements that seemed forced and didn't make sense, but it was watchable overall. Much like the original series, there's heavy emphasis on friendship. One thing that does get a little annoying is that duelists read their card effects every time they play it and it kind of gets tiresome, but I guess they can't help it since there will always be people who aren't familiar with the cards and their effects.
I wasn't super impressed with most of OP and ED songs, but soundtracks were quite good, although I would have liked a little more variety of music during duels. It's like when you hear a certain music starts to play, you know that our hero's pulling off an awesome combo to finish the duel!
Art wise, I felt that GX got a slight down grade from the original series. Not a big difference, but I never thought that GX had better animation or art quality. Not the worst, but not too impressive on most parts. However, I never expected it to be amazing since it is a 180 episode series afterall.
There are quite a bit of characters in GX and I felt that there were perhaps a little too many. Character developments are there, as it would be crazy to have a 180 episode series without character growths. Some character developments being more natural and subtle than others. The series inserts new characters here and there to keep it interesting, but it felt a bit crowded later on.
I mainly watched this because I play the card game myself. It will be much more enjoyable if you play the game. It does gets kind of repetitive, but that could be because I was having a marathon (almost). The TV series is very different from the manga, so give it a read! I personally like the overall feel of the manga more, because the manga has more mature feel to it.
Basically, this series is worth a watch for someone who:
- plays, or is interested in the card game
- wants to kill some time
- is looking for something to watch with his/her kid
In conclusion, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX was a decent series, but it was never at the level of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
