YMMV / Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS

• Adorkable: Yuga in Season 2, where he geeks out over Mimi's overhead projector and is practically shining when he learns that Yuo doesn't know where Fusion came from due to the excitement this means for Rush Dueling.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Otes, especially during the Team Battle Royal arc where he apparently set in motion the uninstallation of Rush Dueling. Did he do so with malicious intent, or was it a Secret Test of Character for the King of Duels and was it done with the knowledge that Yuga would simply re-install Rush Dueling using his Duel with Luke? Was he even responsible at all, or was he just using the opportunity for his own advantage; The Relic being destroyed is stated to have failed because the process was too far along, but it's never actually made clear. Swirly later adds the third theory that Otes was doing it in order to push other kids to implement their own duelling formats to return the game to them. Otes himself refusing to provide any concrete details certainly doesn't help. And of course, it doesn't exactly help that Otes turns out to be the Greater-Scope Villain of the series, having orchestrated Yuga Goha's actions in order to crash the city's dueling system entirely, allowing him to rebuild it from the ground up.
• Americans Hate Tingle:
  • In part due to the lack of Rush Duel cards in the west and part because of a difference in demographics; the show is quite popular among younger Japanese fans while the generally older western fans are more mixed to negative on the show, further splitting as the show went on between fans who find the anime to be genuinely funny and entertaining due to it avoiding the immature humor that's been noted as a big problem for younger-skewing Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, and being able to follow the duels, and older fans who consider the duels dumbed down extensively compared to the previous two series.
  • Season 2 has YouTube comedian Yoshio doing skits after the TV airings in place of an ending theme. While popular with Japanese children, Western fans generally find him creepy. The main fansubber for the series even stopped subbing his skits after he returned to the series from a brief hiatus. He's obviously not in the dub thus many fans watching that way won't even know he's a thing.
• Ass Pull: The ending of Yuga vs. The☆Lukeman, where Yuga plays a Spell that forces them both to draw a card, but he'll take enough damage to lose if they don't draw the same card. The☆Lukeman draws Fusion, which Yuga explicitly doesn't have, but then a literal meteor containing a Fusion card hits Yuga's Duel Disk and adds the card to his Deck, allowing Yuga to win. Yuo Goha actually calls him out on this, only to be informed that a Goha rule states that if the Duelist didn't intend to add the card to their deck, the Duel can continue.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Tatsuhisa "Luke" Kamijo. Some find him a good source of comedy of SEVENS and see him as an entertaining character. Others find him really annoying with how he's always hogging scenes that shouldn't have anything to do with him, with him often even overshadowing Yuga, and how he never really gets punished for his increasingly numerous mistakes due to Rule of Funny. Some enjoy Luke’s strategies, which are quite intricate for Rush Duels and take full advantage of its mechanics, and view him as a more worthy protagonist than Yuga on account of the differences in their win rates. Others hate how he has never suffered an on-screen loss, with frustrations raising dramatically when Luke beat Yuga in the finals of the Goha Rush Duel Team Battle Royal since many feel that Yuga was far more deserving of the win, and only increasing after his unbearable arrogance led him to easily believe Yuo's lie that he is the sixth President, turning on Yuga and co. despite having given Romin a hard time for being a spy. It's worth noting that this does not apply to The☆Lukeman. However, for the finale Luke finally gets a well-deserved loss by Yuga and it's enough to humble him for the inflated ego that he had for the entire series.
  • Luke's sister Haruka "Tiger" Kamijo was initially very well-received for her strong personality and putting Luke in his place whenever his ego went overboard, but many see her as a bully to Luke and partially responsible for his current outlook, though others still side with her over Luke. Her actions in the Goha Employee arc exacerbated this, with even Asana noting that brutally beating Yuga to stop him from awakening Yuga Goha when Yuga was trying to help Swirly and not explaining herself was pretty tactless and Luke seeing it as a reason to finally stand up to her.
• Broken Base:
  • The humor. It's either hilarious thanks to the balance between the darker and mature elements of the stories, meta-commentary and parodies of the franchise's formula, and gives more characterization and flavor to the cast or seen as a detriment to the interesting story, Rule of Funny going too overboard with certain character's quirks and decks, or that prefer the franchise's more consistent and straightforward tone even in other seasons scaling towards the more optimistic and lighter side ala GX and ZEXAL.
  • Rush Duels. Some find them refreshing and enjoyable to watch, feel the show makes better use of the format compared to how Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS handled Speed Duels and that they help with keeping the duels from dragging out. Others find they go by too fast to enjoy, the Duel structure used in single episode Duels to be repetitive and overused, with how there hasn’t been a single Master Duel shown and that the speed takes away from the tension.
  • The series' use of frequent subversions of classic tropes of the franchise split the fanbase in three directions. Some fans enjoy this practice as it allows the series to avoid six series worth of common tropes and either take them in other directions or avoid them all together. Other fans dislike this because they like a lot of the missing or subverted franchise quirks and feel like SEVENS replaced them with worse replacements or is being subversive for subversive sake. A third camp is split down the middle.
• Can't Un-Hear It:
  • Try listening to Nail Saionji and NOT immediately think of Kirito.
  • For Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS fans, it can be very difficult not to think of Roboppi when Asana is speaking due to their shared voice actress using an nearly identical voice for the two characters.
• Catharsis Factor: For those not fond of Luke, it can be very satisfying whenever Tiger appears to knock him down a peg. Similarly, seeing Yuga finally defeat him in the final episode can feel like an extremely triumphant moment, given his status as an Invincible Hero for the rest of the series.
• Contested Sequel: To its predecessor series, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS. Fans who prefer SEVENS argue that it feels more akin to a Yu-Gi-Oh! anime than VRAINS does, on account of the numerous shifts in the latter that made it more gritty and less mystical than previous series, while also managing to balance out its cast fairly well rather than throwing them all Out of Focus for the sake of the main characters like VRAINS did. Fans of VRAINS argue that the Lighter and Softer tone, the Rush Duel format, and its more prominent use of humor make it far too simplistic and saccharine even by Yu-Gi-Oh! standards and applaud VRAINS for employing more interesting ideas. Accusations that SEVENS caused VRAINS to be Cut Short inflame the debates even more.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Asana Mutsuba exploded in popularity purely from her appearance in the preview for Episode 28, and this only continued after the episode in question aired due to her attractive design, Ship Tease with Yuga, and ridiculous premise that's played completely straight, with fanart appearing out of the wetworks. Her appearance in Episode 32 that led to the below-mentioned Memetic Mutation only took this further due to her utterly precious flashback appearances. Once her motivations and flaws came out at the end of the arc, she ends up becoming a very sympathetic character. Overall, she's considered one of the best characters in the show, and despite being the seventh main character appears far less than the other six.
• Epileptic Trees: Thanks to the series' copious use of Foreshadowing, practically everything is subjected to this now.
  • The Kirishima cousins invited this in spades:
    • Romin's apparent disinterest in Duel Monsters was revealed when the series was, but the first opening showed her with a Duel Disk and ace monster, and her motives for spying on Yuga and Rush Dueling invited a lot of speculation.
    • Roa appeared from the beginning in the opening, with many people immediately latching onto him as the series' main Kaiba-esque rival for Yuga (Luke being a parody of said characters and more in-line with Joey/Jonouchi). His motives too were considerably unknown even once he did appear until the climax of his Duel with Yuga. Much speculation was also abound about his Deck before a revised version of OP1 (unveiled from episode 6 onwards) highlighted him and his ace monster, as the main rival characters usually used Dragons, though the Type had been given to Luke already.
  • Luke has invited a ton of speculation due to his unusual motifs, odd watch/power to be a Walking Techbane, unexplained encounter with a dark version of himself, and mysterious family increasingly implied to be wealthy.
  • The true nature of Noodle Sorako and her Identical Strangers has been subject to much debate. Even after the series finale revealed they were all six different people and that they worked for Otes there was still a lot of debate on them.
  • Even before the show revealed that the other Goha Siblings hadn't met them, the identity of the sixth sibling has been subject to much debate, with Luke a prime suspect due to his mysterious backstory, new character Guruguru, Yuga for his theme naming and his hair resembling the silhouette seen in the opening, or an Evil Twin of Yuga. Even Otes has been suggested. The answer turned out to be Swirly / Guruguru, whose true identity of Yuga Goha was sealed away.
  • The finale opened up a boatload of these, especially as Yu Gi Oh Go Rush appears to be a Distant Sequel to SEVENS, both in regards to what Yuga was doing in the two years he was in space, with a common assumption being that he was in Velgear, and whether Otes and the President Drone/Doll might be future versions of them.
• Fandom Rivalry: With the Shadowverse anime. After SEVENS' major changes put a lot of people off, many former Yu-Gi-Oh! fans jumped onto the show as a replacement. The two shows' fandoms were quick to fight each other over their respective series.
• Fan Nickname: Yuo is often referred to as the "evil catboy" due to his tiara being shaped like a cat's ears and due to being the most antagonistic of the Goha Siblings.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • Surprisingly with Cardfight!! Vanguard (V Series) or more specifically its Extra Story -IF- arc, being that both are the 2020 entry of a popular card-based anime, premiered in the same season and both try something different from the usual formula of it's respective franchise, with SEVENS going for a Yo-kai Watch- kodomo style, while -IF- goes with a magical girl style, also both are constantly self referential.
  • This also extends Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress, as like with SEVENS, it features a new format for the card game it’s based off of as well as more slice of life moments compared to the previous series.
• Gateway Series: Putting aside the fact that all the Yu-Gi-Oh! series are meant to advertise the card game, this series puts extra emphasis on explaining the rules through Gakuto's exposition moments, whereas the previous series generally assumed viewers had a basic knowledge of the game. This is likely justified as the series focuses on Rush Duels, a new format introduced alongside it, while the previous series instead featured the mainline game and were likely reliant on viewers from previous series continuing to watch and thus already being familiar with the rules.
• Growing the Beard: The first few episodes are rather basic character spotlights with a bit of Worldbuilding here and there, but starting from the Roa arc, the show starts becoming more dramatic and shows itself as a more character-driven story. Besides, they constantly create concepts that kids can nod along with its childish theme but adults still find amusing/astonishing due to its absurdity (e.g. Yuga dueling a massage chair, machine cavalry club members in equestrian outfits treating excavators like horses, an actual alien selling ramen), making it actually a good show for kids and parents to watch together. What helps is that arcs in this show are not very long, avoiding the Arc Fatigue and Seasonal Rot that previous series are notorious for, keeping things better paced and as soon as one arc finishes, we cool down with a comedic filler episode before kicking off the next arc.
  • Nowhere is this present than with the final arc of the series. The climax of the Goha Employee arc sees Yuga Goha mindwipe the core cast except Yuga and Luke as Yuga is seen about to cause chaos within Goha for his entertainment. We get to see a clear contrast between the start of these characters' arcs and their respective journeys with the help of their friends. In addition, the final duels of the series are some of the most intense duels we've seen from the show in a long time where Yuga is even putting his life on the line to protect dueling. After several seasons where their finale fell flat, SEVENS manages to stick the landing strong.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In Episode 4, Romin gets flustered when Luke suggests she sings for the Rush Duel commercial. Turns out her cousin Roa blackmailed her about her being tone-deaf to kickstart the invention of Rush Duels.
  • President Goha's Evil Laugh becomes this when it turns out it is a mode that keeps the wearer from talking when the Drone doesn't want them to.
  • Mimi claiming that Guruguru is the sixth Goha sibling is dismissed as a joke at first, but we see that she was horrifyingly right 10 episodes later.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Before anyone knew the name of this series, people called it "Yu-Gi-Oh! 7". Seeing as the name of this series was revealed to be Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS, looks like fans were not too far off from guessing the correct name!
  • After years of joking about Duel Monsters being a Children's Card Game that's treated as Serious Business by adults, the entire plot of this series is Yuga, the youngest protagonist by far at eleven-years-old, trying to revamp the game to be more fun because it's taken so seriously by the adults.
  • Summoning a bunch of monsters in one turn (without the use of cards that allow the player to do so) used to be an illegal move. Now it's written in the rules that you can do that!
• Ho Yay: Although initially absent, it returns in full force in Episode 18.
  • Getta's epiphany about his admiration toward Roa during a duel against him sounds so much like a love confession due to how Getta says "omae no koto ga daisuki datta" (お前のことが大好きだった) which can be translated as "I've always loved you." Japanese viewers seem to treat the moment as such◊.
  • Roa's actions don't help. Shortly after the epiphany, during his turn he sits down and sings about how valuable (of a friend) Getta is to him, guitar in his hand. It's almost as if Roa is serenading Getta.
  • Roa's new ace monster incantation is convenient considering what happens before.
    Roa: Hey, would it be alright if I invade your heart? Even if you say no, I won't stop. Because, I was the one who was invaded first. *wink* Royal Demon Invasion!
  • On the female side, we have Asana and Tiger. They have adorable nicknames for one another (with Tiger allowing Asana to call her Tialina/Harucchi instead of Tiger), they're shown with sparkling eyes upon first meeting each other as children, and also shown kneeling in a field of flowers while clasping hands palm-to-palm as children. And then during the duel between Yuga and The☆Lukeman, the two of them are shown embracing one another before Yuga Fusion Summons. For added points, Asana is wearing a white, veiled princess costume and Tiger is wearing a superhero costume.
  • To say nothing of Yuga and Luke is like missing the broad side of a door. Out of all of Yuga's friends upon his return, Luke was the most excited in seeing him return.
• I Knew It!:
  • Quite a few people predicted that genius programmer Nail Saionji would use Cyberse monsters before he dueled.
  • Roa Kirishima being unaffected by Monster Reborn was predicted by many on account of their shadowed eyes when everyone woke up from being exposed to the spell.
• It Was His Sled: While a massive twist when it happened despite out-of-universe hinting, Maximum Summoning has very quickly become very well known.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Due to fairly frequent enjoyment of the story part of the series among its western fans, alongside many who find the duels to be often too quick in design to really enjoy (though with some exceptions), you will find many that focus in on the non-dueling part of the series while stepping around the duels themselves.
• Magnificent Bastard: Nail Saionji is a highly competent duelist and hacker, excelling at everything he does. As an enemy of Yuga Ohda and a Goha Corporation programmer, Neiru attempts to end Rush Duels by granting a series of penalties to Yuga and his associates whenever any of them lose a duel. Nail’s dueling strategy eschews The Magic Poker Equation by focusing on drawing multiple cards and searching his deck for the pieces of his ace monster. Using his massive intellect, Nail discovered some unused space within the Rush Duel code to invent Maximum Summoning, a power that changes the status quo of the series. Requiring Yuga's friends to sacrifice their accounts to be defeated, he proves to be a Graceful Loser, erases their penalties and pulls a Heel–Face Turn, becoming a reliable ally.
• Memetic Badass: Yuga has already gotten a reputation within the fandom for being Crazy-Prepared for everything, considering that he always seems to have some kind of plan or invention to solve the issue of almost every single episode. Not to mention him being Genre Savvy enough to guess several reveals before the rest of the cast and recognize a lot of the franchise's usual trends.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • SCHOOL YARD YU-GI-OH FORMAT!^ExplanationWith SEVENS introducing a new format called Rush Duels that have no limit on Normal Summons and letting you draw until you have five cards in the hand, many can't help but point out the similarities to how most kids play the game before learning the rules proper. SEVENS' protagonist Yuga Ohdo being the youngest one yet only makes the similarities more hilarious.
  • The series' tendency to lay down very subtle Foreshadowing has resulted in the fanbase poring over the slightest details in an episode and proclaiming them as examples that may show up in future episodes.
  • A shot of Asana leaning against R6 and expressing admiration for it quickly became subjected to showing her expressing admiration for all sorts of different machines and/or machinery related subjects. The second opening added a Call-Back to it.
  • In a disturbing example, Sebastian's dying scream in Episode 65 almost immediately became a Twitter hashtag.
• Memetic Psychopath: Yuga being utterly terrified of ladybugs to the point of threatening to blow up the Goha HQ just to get rid of one has prompted many people to label him as this. He also goes out of his way to use very violent language when it comes to destroying Nanaho's ladybug monsters in their Rush Duel.
• Moe: Many of the cast get this to an extent, as they're all preteens, but Yuga takes the cake for his height, often Adorkable mannerisms and generally wholesome motives and personality, despite also being The Chessmaster.
• Narm Charm:
  • Everything about The☆Lukeman, who takes all the over the top ham of his creator Luke and exaggerates it with none of the negatives in a tokusatsu parody that must be seen to believed. And despite all of this, his Perfect Mode is utterly glorious, with a Theme Music Power-Up and a genuinely cool look.
  • Gakuting when it first appeared in Gakuto's duel with Nail was very much something meant to be seen, in and out of universe, as the silliest, stupidest, narmiest thing possible. When Gakuting returned under the use of Ranze and Rinnosuke to help bring Gakuto back to normal after he lost his memories of Rush Dueling and his Character Development that it caused it is still silly and stupid, but in a awesome and heartwarming way.
• Never Live It Down: Roa shoving Romin against a window in a very abusive light has not been forgotten by many viewers, despite Roa also proving to be a popular character. Ironically, the thing that Romin was actually worried he would do, namely reveal that she was tone-deaf was a lot more innocent. Tellingly the removal of this scene in the dub was welcomed.
• Nightmare Fuel: Now has its own page.
• Paranoia Fuel: Nanaho and her operatives can perfectly disguise themselves as seemingly anyone.
• Shocking Moments:
  • Regardless of how you feel about the announcement of SEVENS, it's unanimous that the last thing anybody expected was for the anime series to take on a vastly different direction for its 20th anniversary celebration, departing from the familiar art style established by Studio Gallop.
  • Nail Saionji bringing out a never-before-seen summoning method in the form of Maximum Summon in his duel against Yuga, and proceeding to mop the floor with him in a single attack.
  • Asana bringing back Maximum Summoning and defeating Yuga in the process.^note This holds a significant point as first it was believed that Maximum Summoning does not exist anymore since Nail’s account is banned, Yuga returned the ID cards to his friends that comprised of his Maximum Monster, and Goha's refusal to support Rush Duels means they don't want to make more.
  • The reveal that President Goha is largely controlled by the President Drone, which chooses Mimi as its successor.
  • Episode 40 is a landmark for one thing alone, Romin defeating Yuga.
  • In the middle of Yuga and Luke's second Rush Duel, the reveal that the Goha Duel Server is on the MOON and that the section containing Rush Dueling formed in the shape of the Super Rush Robot and is currently being forcibly uninstalled by Otes.
  • The end of Season 1, where a freaking spaceship is approaching the Earth.
  • Episode 58 in two words: FUSION SUMMONING.^note It should be noted that the word Fusion is being pronounced like the English "Fusion" and not the Japanese "Yūgō".
    • And if Fusion Summoning was not already a surprise, the introduction of a brand-new Type, the Cyborg-Type, sure added to it.
  • Everything about The☆Lukeman, including his use of Fusion to make another new Type, High Dragon, and the revelation that another Drone from Goha was responsible. Oh, and he is actually a manga character brought to life. Yes, for real. And the one who created Fusion.
  • Guruguru, or rather Yuga Goha turning out to be the sixth Goha Sibling, not because the reveal was necessarily a surprise, but because of how brutal and Ax-Crazy said sibling turned out to be.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel:
  • After ARC-V's and VRAINS' particular handling on their characters resulted in many being Demoted to Extra or end up Out of Focus, SEVENS seems to have found a balance, giving many of its supporting cast A Day in the Limelight episode, including those who were initially introduced as background characters, while also keeping all of the main cast in focus rather than just keeping them as The Hero or The Lancer. Albeit this has lead to Luke's Base-Breaking Character status for his overly good treatment compared to past Joey-styled characters.
  • This also gives us possibly the best female cast within the entire franchise. In the previous series, most of the female cast, especially the heroines, start with a strong showing but would then drop in focus and plot relevance after a certain point, especially when their dueling records start to take a massive hit by then. Additionally, they’d often be portrayed as being more mature than most of the male cast but as a result, would lack more to their characters beyond being skilled duelists. At worse, they are relegated to eyecandy and taking up time and space as the show cuts to them and their observation for the duel. In comparison, SEVENS does a better job in fleshing out their female cast. Romin for example is not only an active duelist with a consistent dueling record, she is also a fun character with her own quirks and hobbies that balances out the absurdity of Yuga, Luke, and Gakuto, and it doesn't stop with her. Asana is not only one of the few female major antagonists, but she is also a sympathetic and strong character in her own right, especially after her Character Development where she befriends Yuga. Tiger, Mimi, and Ranze also deserve a special mention, as while they may not be as prominent as the other two, they are very memorable and fleshed-out characters who stay relevant regardless.
  • Speaking of which, Mimi is probably one of the most memorable adult characters who isn't Crowler, Akira, or anyone from 5D's. It starts with the obvious joke, Mimi's a full grown adult despite looking like an elementary school student. Then the joke evolves due to her being a career woman who manages to get the spot as the Goha President via possession by the Goha President Drone. She then gets demoted when the Goha Siblings come back. While she does end up as Vice President to the siblings, she initially seems like an example of George Jetson Job Security, but that's not what endears her to viewers. What makes her a good character is that she's a good mother. While her job makes her naturally against Rush Duels, she sees that her son has fun with it so she's fair with him, lets him play as long as he doesn't let it interfere with his schooling. She's rather empathetic with the cast as well, as she understands that Yuga and the gang are just kids that want to take their favorite game and improve it. Her best aspects actually show when she is interacting with the Goha Siblings as she becomes the mother they never had before. All in all, she's a responsible adult who breaks the trend of Adults Are Useless that Yu-Gi-Oh unfortunately has.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • Given the Art Shift, which is a significant departure from Studio Gallop's familiar art style as seen in previous series, combined with the seemingly child-friendly appeal of the show, it's no surprise to say that a lot of viewers were put off by the initial announcement of SEVENS.
  • Akin to VRAINS before it, the use of a three monster Speed Duel-esque format in promotions left many fans put off by the continued focus on the format versus Master Duels.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Episode 34, Sebastian shutting down after losing to Finger Chikako, having sacrificed himself so Kaizo could escape and tell Nail about Yuga and Co being held by the Heavy Cavalry Duel Club.
  • Episode 37: Chevelle and Hatrap were stuck in the snow underneath a block of ice with no one else around to help them until Asana and R6 found them by accident, both of them crying until they fell asleep. When Chevelle hurts himself saving Hatrap from the backlash of losing the duel, the two remember they promised to have each other's back.
  • Yuka's breakdown in Episode 61 when she learns that Yuo really is so cruel that he is willing to betray the Goha Siblings to become the only president, while she cares deeply for them.
  • The end of Episode 65 sees Neiru quit his job after realizing he's on the wrong side and the controlled Sebastian unable to approach him, leaving Neiru believing he's utterly alone as he has been his whole life. Sebastian refuses to be apart from Neiru and rips out a cable from his body, shutting himself down just so he can stop the program.
  • The end of Episode 77: Guruguru's memories are restored to Yuga Goha, and after he defeats Yuo and goes to leave, Luke tries to get his friend to come back to the Luke Division with him. But the new Yuga bids Luke goodbye and flies away, leaving Luke looking utterly heartbroken.
  • Episode 79: The joy from Goha Yuga's defeat and Luke resisting the memory wipe is shattered, when it is revealed that Romin, Gakuto, Asana, Nail, and Roa were all affected by the memory wipe instead, with Mimi and the Goha Siblings only protected because they were stuck behind the heavy door. When Yuga wakes up afterwards, Luke can barely hold himself back as he lies and simply tells him they went back home to spare his feelings.
  • Episode 81: The fallout from the memory wipes and loss of Character Development, with Gakuto and Romin becoming distant to Yuga and Romin ignoring Kaizo, the Cavalry Club struggling to explain to Asana why R6 is modified, while those that didn't have their memories wiped struggle to help Yuga and Luke.
  • Episode 92: Luke finally loses a duel against Yuga. What are the consequences of his loss? He gets ejected from the Rush Duel Robot and sees his best friend stuck in it as it collapses upon Yuga's winning attack against Otes where Yuga disappears into the void of space. Luke broods over this loss for two years until Yuga makes his long awaited return.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: For starters, Gallop fans aren't happy with the studio switch to Bridge which inevitably changed things such as the art style and Sevens being so much more lighthearted in contrast with the last super serious serious Vrains. Also, switching the game from master duels to rush duels.
• Unexpected Character: This season loves to showcase Duel Monsters era cards and with the rules of Rush Duels, show how even the old cards can be given new life.
  • Before the show even aired, the very first preview gave us a surprise by having a character summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon, whose only major contribution in a long time being Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions, which was just an after-story for the manga the original series is based off of. It technically had previously returned in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL but even then it wasn't the real deal card.
  • While not as surprising, episode 7 marks the return of Dian Keto (who, for the record, had been largely forgotten, without receiving any kind of retained versions, support or even being referenced in card artwork), in a younger form as Mimi's ace monster.
  • While not characters per se, but did anyone expect them to bring back the universally banned Graceful Charity and Pot of Greed? Pot of Greed was at least featured as a Legend card in the Rush Duel game, but very few people expected Luke to use it.
  • Speaking of cards, the second opening features the Millennium Shield as the ace card of one the series new main villains, later revealed to be Yuran.
  • With a lot of focus on iconic Duel Monsters era ace monsters, who would have guessed we would see the fan-favorite Levia-Dragon - Daedalus.
  • No one was expecting to Gyakutenno Megami come into play due to being an old card that was never used prior to the seriesThe card did appear in the first anime series, but it was never played. Kaiba just used it to jam a guy's gun instead of playing the card in a duel , let alone gaining an upgraded form as Daigyakutenno Megami.
  • The cards from the rental deck Guruguru uses during his duel with Mimi consists of old cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! remade for Rush Duels. Among them include the surprising returns of both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, neither of whom been shown since Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, and both of which fans assumed Otes would eventually use (which he eventually did in his match with Yuga Goha in Episode 80).
  • And now we have a zombie-themed retrain of Cyber-Stein.
• Viewer Name Confusion: The spelling of Nail's name was considerably debated before the official romanisation was revealed, as different fan spellings alternated between "Nail" and "Neil" (the former due to the pronounciation, the latter due to the spelling). The Strongest Battle Decks revealed his name was spelled "Neiru" in the Japanese version, but in the English localization for Yu-Gi-Oh! RUSH DUEL: Dawn of the Battle Royal and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, his name is established as "Nail".
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • Yuga's Duel with Maguro features beautiful CG models for Lightning Bolcondor and Big Magurom.
  • The first Maximum Summon of Yggdrago the Heavenly Emperor Dragon Tree looks absolutely gorgeous, despite the monster actually being obscured for most of it save a brief flash of lightning that illuminates it. Every shot of the monster in full looks utterly stunning as well.
  • Not to be outdone, there's Yuga's first Maximum Monster, Super Magitek Deity Magnum Over Road, whose Summoning sequence is an utter love letter to mecha anime.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Romin's main outfit: a mini skirt, strappy heels, and a garter belt on a girl who is only 11. Her other outfits are a bit more proper.
• Woolseyism: As per usual, there’s quite a few notable changes that change some elements that were confusing, full of Narm and or bland in the original Japanese for the dub.
  • Luke and Tiger's nicknames are derived from alternate ways to read the kanji in their Japanese names, but for the average English-speaking fan there's no way to know that "Tatsuhisa" and "Haruka" can also be read as "Ryuku" and "Taiga". In the dub, Luke's given name Lucidien can easily be shortened to “Luke”, while Tiger's given name is “Tiadosia”, an Embarrassing First Name that anyone would want to hide.
  • Yuga’s team in the Battle Royal is changed from “YugaNail with R" (a name that's implied to be thought of by Roa) to the more natural sounding “Team YNR”.
  • When Chevelle’s backstory as being part of a delivery company is revealed, Romin’s reaction is given the punny treatment.
    Romin: I’m gonna need a minute to unbox this.
  • The name of Gakuto’s/Gavin’s failed attempt at a hip persona is changed from “Gakuting” to “DJ G”. And if anything, it’s even more embarrassing in the dub.

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