Ask John: Where’s the First Yu-Gi-Oh Series?

Question:
I heard there was a Yu-Gi-Oh series that didn’t have the characters playing that card game. What happened to it and is it ever going to be released in America?

Answer:
The first Yu-Gi-Oh TV series was a 27 episode TV series broadcast from April 4th until October 10, 1998 on TV Asahi. This original series is frequently referred to by fans as the first “season,” but considering circumstances, it’s more appropriate to think of it as a first “series” rather than first “season.” The second TV series, “Yu-Gi-Oh Dual Monsters,” made its television debut TV-Tokyo on April 18, 2000- a year-and-a-half after the end of the first series, and another TV network later. While the first TV series was successful enough to last for a single long season and spawn a theatrical motion picture released on March 6, 1999, it was the second TV series that achieved breakthrough success. The second TV series is the one which is available in America, and is currently still ongoing in Japan, having reached 175 episodes as of October 15, 2003.

It’s been claimed that the first series has never been released in America because it’s too violent or too macabre or simply not as good as the second series. I haven’t seen all of the first series, and I’ve never watched an episode of the second series, but the argument that the first series is too violent or dark for American release is probably unfounded. The Yu-Gi-Oh anime, especially the first series, was made for children. It may turn dark, but it’s doubtfully so shocking that it couldn’t be shown to American viewers, at least in an “Americanized” version. The true reason why the first series hasn’t yet been released in America probably has to do primarily with financial concerns. The second TV series was the one that achieved massive success in Japan, so there’s reason to believe it will also be successful in America. From a business perspective, it’s illogical to license and release the less popular first series when the second series with more potential is also available. Furthermore, there’s simply more of the second series, allowing a licensor room to expand should the license become highly successful.

We may see an American release of the original TV series eventually, but at the present time there’s simply no reason for 4Kids Entertainment to prioritize distribution of the original series. The Dual Monsters series is wildly popular and profitable, but I’d estimate that there may be only a few thousand hardcore American anime fans that even know that a first Yu-Gi-Oh TV series even exists. For those few thousand consumers, it’s simply not worth it for a distributor like 4Kids to invest several hundred thousand dollars or more to acquire, localize and distribute the series in America for only a few thousand hardcore consumers.